Background on legislative proposal  

In recent years, the growing consumer interest in sustainability has led to an increase in environmental or "green" claims by businesses towards consumers (B2C). These green claims often suggest that a product, service, or company has a positive impact on the environment or is less harmful than alternatives. However, concerns have emerged about the reliability of such green claims, particularly when they lack a factual or scientific basis – a practice commonly referred to as greenwashing.

To address the issue of greenwashing, the European Commission has made two proposals to this end: (i) the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive (ECGT Directive) and (ii) the Green Claims Directive.  The ECGT Directive and Green Claims Directive have been in the works for quite some time.

The ECGT Directive will enter into force on 27 September 2026. The ECGT Directive will affect two existing consumer EU law directives. The proposed changes aim to better align EU consumer law with the green transition. More specifically, the ECGT Directive will explicitly prohibit vague green claims, meaning that businesses will no longer be permitted to self-declare as 'green' or 'environmentally friendly' if they cannot demonstrate or substantiate that they actually are. Moreover, the utilisation of voluntary ‘green’ logos deemed unreliable will be prohibited.

The European Commission also introduced the Green Claims Directive proposal in March 2023. The proposal aimed – in addition to the ECGT Directive – to establish clear and harmonised rules for how companies should substantiate, communicate, and verify environmental claims. A key feature of the Green Claims Directive proposal is the mandatory third-party verification of green claims. Once verified, businesses receive an EU-wide certificate confirming compliance, which protects them from regulatory penalties. The proposal therefore clearly aims to tighten the rules around green claims and offer clearer guidance to businesses.

Withdrawing proposal

On 20 June 2025, the European Commission indicated its intention to withdraw the Green Claims Directive proposal, after receiving a letter from lawmakers in the European Parliament expressing their concerns over the direction of the negotiations. In particular, the Commission cited concerns over the inclusion of micro-enterprises in the scope of the Directive. The final round of negotiations between the EU institutions on 23 June 2025 was cancelled after EU Member States withdrew their support for the proposal and the continuation of the discussions.

A formal withdrawal of the proposal requires the approval of the College of 27 EU Commissioners. The European Commission has not confirmed when the decision on this will take place, so the proposal's status remains uncertain.

Potential implications of the withdrawal of the Green Claims Directive

At EU level, the Unfair Commercial Practises Directive (the UCP Directive) provides a general framework for addressing and regulating misleading commercial practices. This directive has been implemented in Articles 6:193a-6:193j of the Dutch Civil Code through the Unfair Commercial Practices Act (the UPC Act). While the harmonisation of EU-level legislation via the ECGT Act is still pending, Dutch law already provides a basis for enforcement through the UCP Act.

Currently, under Dutch law an unfair commercial practice is considered a form of general tort. The UCP Act applies to B2C practices before, during, and after a commercial transaction. The UCP Act does not yet specifically regulate greenwashing, but it does offer a legal framework to prevent greenwashing as an unfair commercial practice. Greenwashing may qualify as such a practice if the information provided is factually incorrect or misleading, and if it is likely to cause the average consumer to make a transactional decision they would not have made otherwise. In such cases, consumers may seek remedies including compensation for damages, annulment of the legal act (vernietiging), or rescission of the contract (ontbinding).

The forthcoming ECGT Directive will impose further obligations as of 27 September 2026, explicitly prohibiting vague green claims. This suggests that, under Dutch law, the general criteria for identifying greenwashing are becoming increasingly clear. However, legal ambiguity may persist, particularly in the absence of harmonised EU guidance on when a green claim qualifies as greenwashing following the withdrawal of the Green Claims Directive.

Noteworthy, the Dutch Advertising Code Committee and its Board of Appeal have developed criteria for assessing green claims.  Furthermore, in Dutch civil case law, greenwashing has also been a topic of discussions, for example in the class action initiated by Fossielvrij NL against Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM). The District Court of Amsterdam ruled in its judgement of 20 March 2024 that 15 out of 19 advertisements by KLM constituted greenwashing under the UCP Act and were therefore unlawful (please be referred to our earlier publication and earlier commentary on this). The judgment clarified that companies may communicate their green ambitions, provided that such information is presented in an honest and transparent manner. The failure to do so may constitute a breach of fair advertising as sanctioned by the UCP Act and therefore qualify as greenwashing.

Regulatory guidance and enforcement by the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (Dutch acronym: ACM) and the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (Dutch acronym: AFM) have also shaped the existing framework on preventing greenwashing (please be referred to our earlier publication on this). Both authorities have issued detailed guidelines on environmental claims and are empowered to investigate and sanction misleading practices.

Get in touch

ESG legislation and litigation is rapidly increasing, changing and unfolding across multiple avenues. Our firm is closely monitoring ESG litigation and legislation and potential liability and litigation risks in this respect. Please feel free to contact one of our colleagues below for more information.