The EU Greenwashing Ban Starts 27 September 2026: What Fashion Brands Must Stop Saying

From 27 September 2026, a fashion brand selling to shoppers in the EU can no longer call a product “eco-friendly”, “green” or “climate friendly” unless it can prove recognised excellent environmental performance. In practice that usually means the EU Ecolabel. Brands also can no longer display a home-made sustainability badge, or claim a garment is “carbon neutral” because they bought offsets. These are among the new rules added to EU consumer law by the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive, Directive (EU) 2024/825, usually shortened to EmpCo. They go onto the EU’s blacklist of commercial practices that are banned in all circumstances. No test of whether a shopper was actually misled is needed.

Here is what changes, which claims and labels are affected, where each country stands, and what to fix before this weekend.

what is EmpCo, in plain English?

EmpCo is an EU directive adopted on 28 February 2024. It amends two existing laws: the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD), which bans misleading marketing, and the Consumer Rights Directive, which covers what shoppers must be told before they buy. Member States had to write the new rules into national law by 27 March 2026 and must apply them from 27 September 2026 (Article 4(1)).

For fashion, the important part is the new list of practices added to Annex I of the UCPD. Annex I is the “blacklist”. Anything on it is unlawful in every case, so a regulator does not have to show that a real shopper was misled. That is a big shift from the case-by-case approach behind most greenwashing enforcement so far.

which claims are banned from 27 september 2026?

Recital 9 of the directive lists examples of generic claims: “environmentally friendly”, “eco-friendly”, “green”, “nature’s friend”, “ecological”, “environmentally correct”, “climate friendly”, “gentle on the environment”, “carbon friendly”, “energy efficient”, “biodegradable” and “biobased”. A claim stops being generic when its specific basis is given “in clear and prominent terms on the same medium”. “Eco-friendly” on a hangtag with the detail hidden on a website is still generic. And imagery counts: leaves, globes and green colour schemes combined with text can make a claim generic.

Recital 12 lists offset-based claims that are caught, including “climate neutral”, “CO2 neutral certified”, “carbon positive”, “climate net zero”, “climate compensated”, “reduced climate impact” and “limited CO2 footprint”. Brands may still talk about investing in carbon credit projects, as long as that is not misleading. What they cannot do is turn those credits into a claim about the product.

can you still say “sustainable”?

This is the question every brand is asking, and the honest answer is: carefully. “Sustainable” is not in the recital 9 list or the Commission’s FAQ. But the list is illustrative, and “sustainable” on its own works the same way as “green” or “eco-friendly”. A regulator is likely to treat an unqualified “sustainable collection” as a generic claim. The safe approach is to replace it with the specific fact: “70% organic cotton, certified to GOTS” says something a shopper can check.

what counts as a valid sustainability label?

The directive defines a sustainability label broadly. It is any voluntary trust mark or quality mark that promotes a product, process or business for its environmental or social characteristics. Only two kinds are allowed:

• labels established by public authorities, such as the EU Ecolabel
• labels based on a certification scheme that meets four conditions: it is open to all traders on fair and transparent terms; its requirements were developed with experts and stakeholders; it has procedures for dealing with non-compliance, including withdrawing the label; and compliance is monitored by a third party independent of both the scheme owner and the trader

The Commission’s Q&A on the directive adds two points that matter for fashion. The scheme owner and the monitoring body must be separate legal entities. And labels already on the market on 27 September 2026 must comply, with “no transition period beyond this date”.

Social labels are caught too. A fair-labour badge the brand designed itself falls under point 2a as surely as an environmental one. Membership of an industry initiative is not enough on its own: the scheme has to meet all four conditions.

what about brand names like “eco” or “green”?

Brand and collection names are not automatically safe. The Commission’s Q&A says names using words like “green”, “eco”, “natural” or “climate neutral” can count as environmental claims, assessed case by case. A registered trade mark does not protect a name from consumer law. H&M’s “Conscious” range is the example everyone in the industry remembers: in 2022 the Dutch regulator ACM secured commitments from H&M and Decathlon to change how they presented sustainability, and the two donated €500,000 and €400,000 to sustainability causes.

what about “net zero by 2040” targets?

Future claims are still allowed, but only with homework behind them. The new Article 6(2)(d) of the UCPD requires “clear, objective, publicly available and verifiable commitments” in a “detailed and realistic implementation plan” with measurable, time-bound targets. That plan must be regularly checked by an independent third-party expert, whose findings are available to consumers. A climate target on a homepage with no plan behind it is now a legal risk, not just a reputational one.

which EU countries have implemented the rules?

Implementation is patchy. On 28 May 2026 the Commission sent letters of formal notice to 20 Member States for failing to transpose on time, including France, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Poland and Sweden. Where things stood by September:

• Germany: the third act amending the Unfair Competition Act (UWG) was published in February 2026 and applies from 27 September 2026.
• Italy: Legislative Decree No. 30 of 20 February 2026, published on 9 March 2026.
• Ireland: the European Union (Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition) Regulations 2026, applying from 27 September 2026.
• Netherlands: the implementing act was adopted in May 2026 and published in June. Its start date is set by royal decree.
• France: the bill carrying the rules passed the Senate in February 2026 and was still before the National Assembly in early September. It was not yet in force.

A late transposition is not a free pass. The existing UCPD already bans misleading environmental claims case by case, and regulators have used it. In August 2025 Italy’s competition authority fined Shein €1 million over environmental claims including its evoluSHEIN line. In July 2025 France’s consumer authority settled with Shein for €40 million over deceptive practices, including discount and environmental claims. In February 2024 a coordinated EU action led Zalando to remove sustainability flags and leaf icons from its platform.

what are the penalties?

Penalties are set nationally, under the UCPD rules strengthened in 2019. For widespread cross-border breaches pursued through the EU’s consumer protection network, the maximum fine must be at least 4 per cent of the trader’s annual turnover in the Member States concerned, or at least €2 million where turnover data is not available. That 4 per cent is a minimum for the ceiling. It is not a fixed fine, and national maximums vary.

does this apply in the UK and US?

EmpCo does not apply in Great Britain, but UK brands selling into the EU must follow it for those sales. At home, the UK has its own regime:

• the CMA’s Green Claims Code sets six principles: claims must be truthful, clear, complete, fair in comparison, consider the full life cycle, and be substantiated
• since 6 April 2025, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 lets the CMA fine firms directly up to 10 per cent of global turnover
• in March 2024 the CMA secured undertakings from ASOS, Boohoo and George at Asda, and in September 2024 it published a tailored green claims guide for fashion brands and wrote to 17 of them

In the US, the FTC’s Green Guides were last revised in 2012 and are still under review. They are guidance rather than binding rules, but the FTC enforces deceptive claims under section 5 of the FTC Act. In 2022 it obtained $2.5 million from Kohl’s and $3 million from Walmart over “bamboo” products that were really rayon.

what happened to the green claims directive?

The separate Green Claims Directive was meant to add pre-approval of environmental claims by third-party verifiers. In June 2025 the Commission announced it intended to withdraw the proposal, and the final negotiating round was cancelled. It was not formally withdrawn, and it has not come back. Some commentators describe it as withdrawn and others as paused. Either way, it is not law, and EmpCo is. Brands waiting for the Green Claims Directive before cleaning up their claims are waiting for the wrong law.

a checklist before 27 september

1. Audit every surface: product pages, hangtags, care labels, packaging, email, social posts, influencer briefs and marketplace listings.
2. Replace generic words with specific facts on the same medium: fibre, percentage, certification.
3. Scale claims to the part they cover: “outer shell made from 60% recycled polyester”.
4. Remove offset-based product claims such as “carbon neutral delivery” or “climate positive collection”.
5. Check every label against the four conditions, and retire in-house badges.
6. Review collection and brand names that carry environmental words.
7. Back any future target with a published, independently verified plan, or drop it.
8. Deal with old stock using stickers or point-of-sale notices, which the Commission accepts.

If you want the background on how eco-claim enforcement got here, read our earlier piece on the law behind the label and our guide to sustainable fashion marketing. Digital product passports are the next wave, covered in our DPP explainer. And if compliance work like this is the side of fashion law you want to work in, start with fashion compliance and sustainability careers.

frequently asked questions

When does the EU greenwashing ban start?

27 September 2026. From that date, the new blacklisted practices added by Directive (EU) 2024/825 apply across the EU, although several Member States have transposed late.

Can I still call clothing “eco-friendly” in the EU?

Only if you can demonstrate recognised excellent environmental performance relevant to the claim, such as EU Ecolabel certification, or if the specific basis of the claim is stated clearly on the same medium. An unqualified “eco-friendly” is banned.

Are carbon neutral claims banned in the EU?

Product claims of neutral, reduced or positive climate impact based on offsetting are banned. Brands can still describe their investment in carbon credit projects if that is not misleading.

Are GOTS and OEKO-TEX labels still allowed?

Labels based on certification schemes are allowed if the scheme meets the directive’s four conditions, including independent third-party monitoring. Each scheme should be checked against those conditions. The EU Ecolabel, as a public label, is allowed.

Does EmpCo apply to UK and US brands?

It applies to any brand selling to consumers in the EU, wherever the brand is based. It does not apply to sales in Great Britain or the US, which have their own rules.

sources

• Directive (EU) 2024/825, Official Journal
• European Commission, Q&A on the directive
• Latham & Watkins, new green claims rules from 27 September 2026
• AGCM decision on Shein, August 2025
• CMA green claims guide for fashion brands

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