The European Commission has opened infringement procedures against 20 Member States for failing to report on the transposition of EU-wide green claims and sustainability label legislation into national law.
The Commission has sent letters of formal notice to Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Cyprus, Latvia, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland and Sweden for failing to communicate the complete transposition of the Directive on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition (Directive (EU) 2024/825).
The Directive is designed to ensure transparency and reliability for on-pack green claims or sustainability labels – avoiding the use of obsolete symbols or ‘greenwashing’ attempts. It is also intended to provide consumers with clear information about a product’s durability and repairability, as well as their legal guarantee rights.
Member States were expected to transpose the Directive into their national law by 27 March 2026, in preparation for the rules to apply from 27 September 2026. So far, the countries in question have not informed the Commission of all the steps taken to adopt the Directive into national law.
Each Member State will have two months to respond to the formal notice and notify the Commission of their complete transposition measures. If they do not, the Commission may issue a reasoned opinion.
Back in 2024, the Commission opened infringement procedures against multiple Member States. France was accused of violating Articles 34-36 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union by failing to address the shortcomings of its labelling requirements regarding waste sorting instructions, for which it then received a reasoned opinion – and the case has now been referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Ireland, Spain, France, and Hungary also received reasoned opinions for the incomplete transposition of EU rules on renewable energy as per Directive (EU) 2018/2001 – raising concerns about the EU-wide binding target to transition into renewable energy by 2030.
Last year, the EFTA Surveillance Authority also referred Iceland to the EFTA Court for failing to enforce rules to prevent packaging waste, regulate the types of packaging brought to market, and manage operations at landfill sites. A letter of formal notice and a reasoned opinion had already been sent in August 2022 and February 2023, respectively.
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