Overview
The analysis is based on the Council document ST 15298 2025 INIT, which details a decision on public access to negotiation documents. The file concerns the legislative proposal for a Directive on the substantiation and communication of explicit environmental claims, commonly referred to as the Green Claims Directive. It is a legislative file under the ordinary legislative procedure (COD). The current status is ongoing, with the procedure at the first reading stage and interinstitutional negotiations (trilogues) actively underway.
Legislative timeline
The legislative procedure commenced with the European Commission's proposal. The European Parliament’s timeline shows a referral to committee on 1 June 2023, followed by committee work leading to the adoption of a committee report on 14 February 2024. The Parliament held a plenary debate and vote on 11-12 March 2024, adopting its position and amendments. Subsequently, the file entered the trilogue phase, with interinstitutional negotiation meetings recorded on 28 January 2025 and 24 April 2025. A key recent procedural event, noted in the institutional calendar, was a Council decision on 12 May 2025 regarding a confirmatory application for public access to documents related to these negotiations.
Institutional handling
The lead Directorate-General in the European Commission is DG Environment (ENV), under the responsibility of Commissioner Jessika Roswall. In the Council of the EU, the file is handled by the Environment Council configuration (ENV). The European Parliament’s lead committee is not explicitly named in the provided data, but the procedural narrative indicates it has adopted a committee report and opinion, and is engaged in trilogue negotiations.
Stakeholder reactions
Stakeholder engagement on this file has been extensive, with 206 documented meetings held between stakeholders and EU policymakers. Of these, 193 were with Members of the European Parliament, 5 with Commissioners, and 8 with European Commission staff. The outreach involved 134 distinct organisations, with the most active including AIM - European Brands Association, Apple Inc., HOTREC (Hotels, Restaurants & Cafés in Europe), Stockholm Exergi, and the Association Internationale de la Savonnerie, de la Détergence et des Produits d'Entretien.
Specific positions on the policy content vary. On the core issue of 'Green claims', stakeholders expressed divergent views. Ecocert indicated opposition, subtly favoring a strong environmental focus by advocating for ex-ante verification of claims. Skruf Snus expressed support, emphasizing the need for harmonized rules as they are currently not allowed to make green claims. The French business association AFEP also expressed support, while explicitly calling for a simplification of the proposed regulation, which it highlighted as highly complex and burdensome. Conversely, Ecopreneur expressed strong opposition, explicitly advocating for strict pre-market accreditation of green claims. On the broader topic of 'Overall simplification of regulation in the EU', both Ecocert and AFEP expressed support, with Ecocert advocating for a right balance with administrative burden.
Media coverage
No data on media coverage was provided for this analysis.