From 27 September 2026, vague sustainability messaging will no longer be a safe default in the EU. The Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive (EU) 2024/825 – ECGT – rewrites the rules on how businesses talk about the environmental and social qualities of their products, amending both the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and the Consumer Rights Directive.

Rather than introducing one single obligation, ECGT tightens three distinct areas at once: the claims companies make, the labels they use, and the product information they're required to disclose. Together, these changes affect anyone who markets, labels, or sells physical products to EU consumers.

Pillar One: Environmental Claims Need Evidence, Not Adjectives

Generic claims like "eco-friendly," "green," or "climate-friendly" are now restricted unless a company can point to recognised proof of excellent environmental performance – the EU Ecolabel, an officially recognised national ecolabel such as the Nordic Swan or Blue Angel, or top performance under another applicable EU law like the Energy Labelling Regulation.

ECGT also directly addresses one of the most common greenwashing tactics: claiming climate neutrality, reduction, or positive impact based solely on carbon offsetting. Under the new rules, that basis alone is no longer sufficient.

For companies, this means every existing environmental claim needs to be traced back to a specific, verifiable source – and where that source doesn't exist yet, either the evidence needs to be built, or the claim needs to go.

Pillar Two: Sustainability Labels Must Have a Real Certification Basis

Beyond individual claims, ECGT also targets the labels themselves. A sustainability label is only permitted if it's based on an established, independent third-party certification scheme (such as Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification) or set up by a public authority, like the EU Organic logo. Labels invented by a company itself, without independent verification behind them, fall outside the rules.

Critically, this applies to labels already in use today. There's no grace period beyond the September 2026 deadline: any label already on the market has to meet the same certification-basis requirement from day one of application. Companies using proprietary or loosely-defined labels will need to identify them now and either secure proper certification or retire them before the deadline hits.

Pillar Three: Consumers Get More Information on Durability and Repair

ECGT's third pillar shifts focus from marketing claims to structured product information. Consumers must be informed about their legal guarantee of conformity through a harmonised notice, and, where a producer offers one, the existence and duration of a commercial durability guarantee through a harmonised label set out in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1960.

Where applicable, companies also need to provide a product's reparability score or relevant repair information – spare-parts availability, estimated repair costs, and any repair restrictions. For goods with digital elements, this extends to disclosing the minimum period for software updates, where that information is available.

This pillar affects product pages, packaging, and points of sale directly, requiring coordination between product, legal, and marketing teams to make sure the right information appears in the right place.

Who Has to Act – and When

ECGT applies across the full B2C supply chain:

• Manufacturers and brands, who originate the claims.
• Retailers and distributors, who must verify accuracy before passing claims along.
• Online marketplaces, which must ensure listings from third-party sellers don't mislead consumers even when the content isn't their own.

All three pillars – claims, labels, and product information – become binding simultaneously on 27 September 2026, with no phased implementation.

Getting Ready Before the Deadline

With all three pillars applying at once and no transition period for existing labels, the practical work is really an audit exercise: reviewing claims and evidence, checking label certification, and confirming product information is in place – ideally before, not after, the September deadline.

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