European Union renounces fightning greenwashing

2023 was a decisive year for sustainability in fashion. After two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which consumers began to question what they consumed, including clothing, the European Commission committed to drafting a new regulation against greenwashing. According to the draft published in March 2023, brands would have been required to provide concrete proof of their environmental efforts, under penalty of fines of at least 4% of the company’s turnover. Although many advocates of sustainable fashion criticized the vagueness of the new regulations, after the regulation was published, European fashion brands began to withdraw their "green" programs out of fear of making mistakes (the so-called greenhushing). Now, both in response to the sales crisis and to motivate companies that had backed away from their eco-friendly initiatives, the European Commission has decided to permanently eliminate the proposed anti-greenwashing law. A tough choice for the EU, influenced by conservative politicians who pushed to simplify the Commission's bureaucracy during a period of significant commercial tension. A major criticism of Brussels’ power was made last April by Bernard Arnault, CEO of the French group LVMH, who argued that the Commission’s bureaucracy penalized all businesses. 

The laws that were until recently under consideration would have required brands to scientifically substantiate any claims made in their advertisements and to include the life cycle of their products in their "green" claims. Self-certified labels would have been banned, greater scrutiny would have been imposed on the validity of benefits claimed for materials like recycled polyester, and terms like "carbon and climate neutral" would have been called into question. Last Friday, after confirming that the draft had been permanently discarded, the European Commission stated it was still interested in working on initiatives aimed at curbing misleading sustainable marketing—but with policies yet to be written. That said, after two years of waiting, one of the first regulations to combat false advertising and promote greater oversight of allegedly sustainable production has not only been downgraded but incinerated. While until recently companies and brands claimed to be confused by the new laws, the elimination of the plans makes the situation even more chaotic.