Here, you will find an overview of the regulations, frameworks, and initiatives regarding environmental impacts across all product categories applicable in the European Union.
Regulation within the EU Green Deal
It aims to enforce a carbon tax on importers of specific goods, equivalent to the weekly EU-ETS price
Scheduled to take effect in its final form from 2026, with the current transitional phase spanning from 2023 to 2026
Currently relevant for cement, iron and steel, aluminum, fertilizers, electricity, and hydrogen
Determining fair prices for CO2 emissions in the production of certain carbon-intensive goods imported into the EU, aiming to promote cleaner industrial production in non-EU countries
EU regulation under the EU Green Deal
Use digital solutions to reduce product lifecycle impacts and advance EU industrial policy goals for sustainable goods
Introduces new responsibilities and rights for various stakeholders, including manufacturers, importers, distributors, repairers, recyclers, consumers, and regulatory bodies.
sets mandatory green public procurement criteria within the values and principles advocated by the circular economy
EU regulation to promote circularity
Regulation to improve energy- and resource efficiency of products
Requirements for eco-design of energy-related (consuming) products, including reduction approaches
EU law proposal 03/2023
Companies need to substantiate their environmental claims with science-based and verifiable methods.
Green claims must be specific and relate directly to the environmental aspect being promoted.
Encourages the use of third-party verification or certification schemes to substantiate green claims.
Adopted in 03/2020 as one of the main building blocks of the European Green Deal
Targets product design and promotes circular economy practices, promotes sustainable consumption, and strives to minimize waste while maximizing resource retention within the EU economy
Emphasizes sectors with substantial resource usage and significant potential for circularity,
It includes electronics and ICT, batteries and vehicles, packaging, plastics, textiles, construction and buildings, food, water, and nutrients
Implements a combination of legislative and non-legislative measures to achieve its objectives
Overarching EU legislation regulating unfair commercial practices that occur before, during and after a business-to-consumer transaction has taken p
Established by the European Union to regulate B2C commercial practices
Enable national enforcers to curb a broad range of unfair business practices
The DCGT Directive, adopted in February 2024, significantly advances previous EU legislation on green claims by imposing strict limitations on sustainability claims for products, which will substantially affect product advertising.
Implications:
The directive restricts the use of sustainability labels to those based on certification schemes or established by public authorities, effectively banning self-certification.
This aims to empower consumers by ensuring the credibility of green claims.It will be prohibited to display unreliable voluntary sustainability logos.
Additionally, vague environmental claims, such as declaring a product 'green' or 'environmentally friendly' without scientific proof, will be forbidden.
Enhanced Consumer information: The directive ensures consumers receive more harmonized information on product durability and reparability. According to Didier Reynders, Commissioner for Justice, "Empowering consumers for the green transition means giving European citizens the tools to make informed choices and preventing practices such as greenwashing and early obsolescence from being used in the single market."
Scope of application: applies to all non-mandatory sustainability claims made to consumers relating to a product, service, company or brand in any medium and in any form, including brands, product names, and marketing materials
Implementation timeline: The European Council adopted the directive on 20 February 2024, setting 27 September 2026 as the date by which member states must apply the new rules, allowing a two-year transition period for necessary adjustment
EU proposal for regulation
It aims to create transparency about the supply chain and identify human and environmental risks.
Members of the European Parliament still have to vote on the regulations until 04/2024.
The scope of application currently includes companies with 1,000 employees and a turnover of at least EUR 450 million
It mandates preventing, identifying, and mitigating negative impacts on human rights and the environment within global value chains.
Provisional agreement for more sustainable, repairable, and circular products
Regulatory framework established by the EU to promote eco-design principles and integrate environmental considerations into the design of products placed on the EU market
Products complying with ESPR requirements are granted access to the EU market, while non-compliant products may face restrictions or penalties, incentivizing manufacturers to improve their environmental performance
ESPR requires manufacturers to comply with specific eco-design requirements, such as energy efficiency standards, material efficiency targets, recyclability criteria, and the use of environmentally friendly materials and technologies
French law
The goal is to end the marketing of single-use plastic packaging by the year 2040. To achieve this, reduction, reusability, and recycling goals will be established by decree
Next steps:
01.01.2024: Ban on the sale of medical products containing microplastics
01.01.2025: 100% recycling of single-use plastic packaging
31.12.2025: 100% reduction in "unnecessary" single-use plastic packaging
31.12.2025: Reduction of single-use plastic packaging by 20%
01.01.2026: Ban on the sale of rinse-off cosmetic products containing microplastics
01.01.2028: reducing the number of single-use plastic bottles by 50%
EU regulation for companies with more than 500 employees
Encourage transparency and accountability by requiring companies to sustainability reporting at regular intervals and outline their specific policies on them
Companies that are obligated to comply with the NFRD must provide information on both their non-financial disclosures and operations and any third parties that contribute to their supply or value chain
Applies to all companies subject to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)
Cover the full range of environmental, social, and governance issues, including climate change, biodiversity and human rights
Take up existing frameworks such as GRI, SASB and TCFD and set new standards for mandatory reporting
Companies will have to disclose how material ESG impacts, risks, and opportunities are identified and managed, including policies, targets, action plans, and others
Comprehensive legislative framework aimed at combating climate change and enhancing societal resilience
Sets ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions across various sectors of the economy
Promotes the transition to renewable energy sources and the implementation of energy efficiency measures
Mandates regular reporting and monitoring of progress towards climate goals, ensuring accountability and transparency in implementation
Next steps:
end of 2024:
Flights are prohibited if there is an alternative by train in less than 2.5 hours (with the exception of flights that are mainly operated by passengers with a connecting flight to a more distant destination)
2025
Create low-emission zones in urban areas with more than 150,000 inhabitants
Rental of the least insulated thermal filters (classification G) prohibited
2028:
Rental of the least insulated thermal filters (classification F) prohibited
Advertising for the most polluting vehicles prohibited
2030:
Ban on the sale of cars that emit more than 95 g CO2/km
20% of the space in large stores (businesses with more than 400 m² of sales area) is reserved for mass sales
German law since 01/2023
For more than 3000 employees, 01/2024 for more than 1000 employees
Regulation about human rights risks in the supply chain
Aims to create transparency about the supply chain, identify risks for humans and the environment
supports the objectives of the “European Green Deal”
PEF is a standardized methodology developed by the European Commission for assessing the environmental impact of products throughout their life cycle.
Category rules (CR) provide specific guidelines for applying the PEF methodology to a particular product category, ensuring consistency and comparability between different assessments within the same product category.
It is aligned with the principles of LCA.
PEF has gained international recognition as a leading methodology for assessing product environmental footprints, with the potential for global adoption and harmonization
Applies to: All companies and sectors, rules are sector-specific (Apparel & footwear, Chemistry based final products, Construction products, Electronics, Food & Beverage products (including products not for human consumption, Energy production and transmission etc.)
German Standard
Includes a set of 20 criteria covering areas such as sustainability strategy, environmental impact, social responsibility, and corporate governance
Companies that adopt the DNK are required to report on their sustainability performance using a set of standardized indicators that align with these criteria -> make sustainability reporting more transparent, comparable, and credible
A consistent and specific set of rules to calculate the relevant environmental information of the organizations belonging to the sector in scope
Requirements: System boundaries shall include organizational boundaries (direct) and organization environmental footprint boundaries (indirect) --> specification of supply chain stages, all indirect (upstream and downstream) activities
