EU Commission to withdraw Green Claims Directive
20/06/2025
The European Commission has confirmed it will withdraw its proposed Green Claims Directive, a key piece of legislation intended to tackle corporate greenwashing. The decision follows pressure from conservative lawmakers, including the European Parliament’s largest group, the EPP, which opposed the directive’s verification requirements for environmental claims.
Originally introduced in 2023, the directive would have required companies to substantiate sustainability-related marketing claims using verifiable evidence. It also proposed the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) method as a harmonised tool for measuring environmental impact. With the withdrawal, the PEF will no longer be written into EU law via this directive, leaving its use voluntary in this context.
However, the PEF remains referenced in the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), where the scope is currently being simplified and amended, and may still be incorporated into future legislation, including the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR).