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GETTING RID OF GREEN WASHINGRestoring consumer confidence in green claims
Patrycja Gautier21st June 2021
OBSTACLES ON THE WAY TO THE GREEN TRANSITION
WHAT ARE GREEN CLAIMS?
Green claim – any practice of suggesting or otherwisecreating the impression that a good or a service haspositive or no impact on the environment or is lessdamaging to the environment than the competinggoods and services.
CURRENT LEGAL BASIS• Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD)
• No specific rules on green claims, general principles apply (art. 5,6,7 and 12 UCPD)
• Several practices listed in the UCPD annex could also apply (points 1,2,3,4 and 10)• Specific section on green claims in the UCPD guideline document• National guidelines adopted by some countries
• Green claims need to be clear, specific, unambiguous and accurate
• The following claims can be misleading (if they cause consumers to take a transaction decision that he would not take otherwise):• False / untruthful statements• Claims that deceive (or are likely to deceive) the avarage consumers
• Traders are obliged to submit evidence to the authority, if the claim is challenged (art. 12 UCPD)
CURRENT LEGAL BASIS
Main flaws of the current system:
• Only ex-post & case by case assessments
• No rules on systematic checks
• Long time needed to remove a misleading claim from the market while in the meantime the harm is done
• Practical difficulties for the authorities to enforce the current law:
• No clear cut rules
• Differences in interpretation
• Lack of the specialised knowledge
• Diverging level of enforcement between the EU countries
WHY IS A CHANGE URGENT?
- Consumers more and more aware of the impact of theiractions on the environment and climate change
- 57% of consumers are receptive to environmental claims when making their purchase decision
- 61% of consumers find it difficult to understand which products are truly environmentally-friendly
- Proliferation of green claims on the market- Many green claims are unsubstantiated and potentially
misleading- 45% consumers don’t trust environmental claims
- Consumers are not able to make a distinction between a non-certified and third party certified green label
- Consumer trust is being undermind- Consumers are not able to effectivelly choose the « real »
green products
INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK:
- Green Deal Commununication (December 2019)
- Circular Economy Action Plan (April 2020)
- Upcoming proposal on empowering consumers in the green transition (Q4 2021)
- Upcoming proposal on substantiating green claims
(Q4 2021)
BEUC RECOMMANDATIONS
- A pre-approval procedure for all green claims and labels inspired by the Health and Nutrition Claims Regulation
- An EU-level assessment
- Public Registry with an erga omnes effect
- Blacklist of claims impossible to substantiate
- Obligation to submit the evidence before usinga claim
- Effective market survaillance
For more information see: BEUC position paper
GREEN
LABELS
BEUC recommends:
- Introducing a centralised accreditation scheme for green labels
- A limited list of reputable and well recognisedecolabels should be drawn up that would be exempted from an obligation to apply for accreditation.
- Labels seeking the accreditation would need to fulfil a set of pre-conditions
- Labels that do not meet the accreditation requirement would be prohibited from use.
Thank you for your attention
www.beuc.eupatrycja.gautier@beuc.eu
This presentation is part of an activity which has received funding under an operating grant from the European Union’s ConsumerProgramme (2014-2020).
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