Consumer rights: final approval for the directive to empower consumers for the green transition

The Council has today adopted a directive to empower consumers for the green transition.

The new rules will enhance consumers’ rights by amending the unfair commercial practices directive (UCPD) and the consumer rights directive (CRD) and adapting them for the green transition and the circular economy. This is the last step in the decision-making procedure.

Thanks to the directive adopted today, consumers will be better informed, better protected and better equipped to be real actors of the green transition.

Pierre-Yves Dermagne, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy and Employment

Protecting against unfair practices

The directive will protect consumers against misleading ‘green’ claims, including about unfair claims about carbon offsetting. It will also clarify the traders’ liability in cases of information (or lack of information) on early obsolescence, unnecessary software updates or the unjustified obligation to buy spare parts from the original producer. The directive will also improve the information available to consumers to help them make circular and ecological choices. For instance, products across the EU will bear a harmonised label with information on the commercial guarantee of durability.

Next steps

Following the Council’s approval today of the European Parliament’s position, the legislative act has been adopted. After being signed by the president of the European Parliament and the president of the Council, the directive will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and will enter into force on the twentieth day following its publication.

Background

The proposal was presented on 30 March 2022 under the responsibility of commissioner Didier Reynders. It is one of the initiatives set out in the Commission’s 2020 New Consumer Agenda and 2020 Circular Economy Action Plan and comes in follow-up to the European Green Deal. It is part of a package of four proposals, together with the ecodesign regulation and the directive proposals on green claims and promoting repair (right to repair).