The Council and the Parliament reached a provisional political agreement on the directive to strengthen the role of consumers in the green transition. The purpose of the proposal is to strengthen consumer rights by amending the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and the Consumer Rights Directive and by adapting them to the green transition, the European Council reports.

The agreement maintains the main objectives of the directive, but brings some improvements. These include the inclusion in the list of prohibited practices of incorrect claims based on offsetting greenhouse gas emissions, stricter measures against premature obsolescence, clarifying the liability of traders in certain cases and introducing a harmonized format to increase the visibility of the voluntary trade guarantee of sustainability, as well as improvements in drawing attention to the legal guarantee of compliance.

“Citizens suffer the consequences of climate change and want to be part of the solution. Thanks to the compromise reached today, consumers will have the information they need to make environmentally sound choices and will be better protected against environmental misinformation, social impact misinformation and other unfair business practices. This is essential so that they can play an active role in our common fight for a greener and fairer Europe,” said Alberto Garzón Espinosa, Acting Spanish Minister for Consumer Affairs.

The Green Transition Directive aims to combat unfair commercial practices that prevent consumers from making the right choices about greener or more circular products and services. Among the practices that this legal text seeks to combat is the misleading practice of “environmental misinformation” or false claims about products with a shorter than expected lifespan.

The provisional agreement maintains the main objectives of the directive, but brings important improvements.

The provisional agreement reached with the European Parliament must now be approved and formally adopted by both institutions.