16/03/2025
To enhance consumer protection, Directive (EU) 2024/825, adopted by the European Parliament and the Council on 28 February 2024, amends Directives 2005/29/EC (Unfair Commercial Practices Directive) and 2011/83/EU (Consumer Rights Directive) http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2024/825/oj. This new regulation, which took effect on 26 March 2024, aims to empower consumers in the green transition by improving safeguards against deceptive practices and ensuring better access to accurate information.
Under the Directive, businesses must provide clear, relevant, and trustworthy details about the sustainability of their products. It also seeks to address several problematic practices, including:
Greenwashing - misleading environmental claims that exaggerate a product's sustainability;
False social responsibility claims - inaccurate or deceptive information about ethical aspects of a product or a company's operations, such as working conditions, human rights, or environmental impact;
Non-transparent sustainability labels - certification schemes that lack credibility or clear criteria;
Planned obsolescence - strategies where products are intentionally designed with a limited lifespan, causing them to become outdated or non-functional sooner than necessary.
This Directive marks a significant step in ensuring consumers receive honest and transparent information, enabling them to make more informed and sustainable choices.
