On Sunday (27 September 2026), the EU’s Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive (EmpCo) took effect across all member states.
Ahead of its adoption on Sunday, the EU Commission also published updated guidance last week with questions and answers to support a coherent enforcement approach.
The EmpCo directive will ensure consumers are provided with adequate information at point of sale on the goods they are purchasing, pertaining to the product’s sustainability credentials.
Better and – crucially – verifiable, information is mandated, such as the durability and repairability of the product within the consumer’s legal guarantee rights, but it also serves to protect the consumer against greenwashing, deliberately misleading information, and early obsolescence practices (where products are purposely designed to have a limited life span to encourage repeat purchase).
Generic and vague terms such as ‘green’, ‘eco-friendly’, ‘conscious’ are now banned, as are carbon neutrality claims based on offsetting rather than direct emission reductions.
Sustainability claims must be verifiable and backed up by third-party certifications; if you can’t prove it, you can’t say it. Similarly, future-focusing commitments such as net zero targets also now need publicly available implementation plans backed by third-party monitoring, such as SBTi, before they can be shared or used for promotional and marketing purposes.
The Directive amends two existing consumer law Directives: the Consumer Rights Directive and the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. It makes EU horizonal consumer law better fit for the green transition and supports the changes needed in consumer behaviour to achieve climate and environmental objectives under the European Green Deal.
The Directive was adopted by the co-legislators on 28 February 2024 and Member States had until 27 March 2026 to transpose the Directive. Since 27 September 2026, the Directive entered into application.
You can read more about the legislation and other prescient regulatory information in POC’s upcoming Legislation Lookbook. Get yours at Brand Licensing Europe stand D254.
