With 544 votes to 18 and 17 abstentions, plenary approved the proposal for a new directive on empowering consumers for the green transition. Its main aim is to help consumers make environmentally friendly choices and encourage companies to offer them more durable and sustainable products.

Banning misleading ads and generic environmental claims

Parliament’s approved negotiating mandate foresees banning the use of general environmental claims like “environmentally friendly”, “natural”, “biodegradable”, “climate neutral” or “eco” if these do not come with detailed evidence. It also aims to ban environmental claims that are based solely on carbon offsetting schemes. Other misleading practices such as making claims about the whole product if the claim is true only for one part of it, or saying that a product will last a certain amount of time or can be used at a certain level of intensity if that is not true, will also be forbidden.

To simplify product…