What changed between the plenary report and the adopted text

Removed:Article 5 – paragraph 5: 5. Explicit environmental claims on the cumulative environmental impacts of a product or trader based on an aggregated indicator of environmental impacts can be made only when they are based on environmental labels compliant with Article 7. Where such claims are made, the rules used to calculate the aggregated indicator shall be communicated to the consumers.

Added:(65) When adopting delegated acts pursuant to Article 290 TFEU, it is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations, including with the consultation forum, during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making. In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States’ experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts. [Am. 39]

Removed:Article 5 – paragraph 6 – subparagraph 1: Information on the product or the trader that is the subject of the explicit environmental claim and on the substantiation shall be made publicly available together with the claim in a physical form or in the form of a weblink, QR code, digital product passport or equivalent.

Added:(66) In order to assess the performance of the legislation against the objectives that it pursues, the Commission should carry out an evaluation of this Directive and present a report on the main findings to the European Parliament and the Council. In order to inform an evaluation of this Directive, Member States should regularly collect information on the application of this Directive and provide it to the Commission on an annual basis.

Removed:Article 5 – paragraph 6 – subparagraph 2 – point c: (c) the underlying studies, methods or calculations, including the assessment referred to in Article 3, used to assess, measure and monitor the environmental impacts, environmental aspects or environmental performance covered by the claim, without omitting the results of such studies or calculations and, explanations of their scope, assumptions and limitations, unless the information is a trade secret in line with Article 2 paragraph 1 of Directive (EU) 2016/943112 ;

Added:(67) Where based on the results of the monitoring and evaluation of this Directive the Commission finds it appropriate to propose a review of this Directive, the feasibility and appropriateness of further provisions on mandating the use of common method for substantiation of explicit environmental claims, the extension of prohibition of environmental claims for products containing hazardous substances except where their use is considered essential for the society, or further harmonisation as regards requirements on the substantiation of specific environmental claims on environmental aspects or environmental impacts should also be considered. [Am. 40]

Removed:Article 5 – paragraph 6 – subparagraph 2 – point e a (new): (ea) a description of the type of monitoring and evaluation system that the environmental labelling scheme has in place to ensure regular assessments of performance and impacts are carried out;

Added:(68) The use of the most harmful substances should ultimately be phased-out in the Union to avoid and prevent significant harm to human health and the environment, in particular their use in consumer products. The Commission should provide a report on the use of explicit environmental claims on products containing harmful substances and evaluate for which products or product groups the use of explicit environmental claims is misleading. Since the use of such claims can encourage consumption of those products that contain substances harmful to the environment or human health, the Commission should have the power to adopt delegated acts to introduce restrictions or prohibitions on the use of such explicit environmental claims. In its report, the Commission could also evaluate whether it would be appropriate that certain EU Ecolabel criteria set under Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 concerning the use of substances or preparations/mixtures be used for the potential restrictions or prohibitions on the use of explicit environmental claims under this Directive. Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council prohibits the labelling of mixtures and substances that contain hazardous chemicals as ‘non-toxic’, ‘non-harmful’, ‘non-polluting’, ‘ecological’ or any other statements indicating that the substance or mixture is not hazardous or statements that are inconsistent with the classification of that substance or mixture. Member States are required to ensure that such obligation is fulfilled. As committed in the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability the Commission will define criteria for essential uses to guide its application across relevant Union legislation. . [Am. 41]

Removed:Article 5 – paragraph 6 – subparagraph 2 – point f: (f) for climate-related explicit environmental claims that use carbon credits, information referred to in Article 3(1)(h), (ha) and (ja);

Added:(69) Since the objectives of this Directive, namely to improve the functioning of the internal market for economic actors operating in the internal market and consumers relying on environmental claims, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States, but can rather, by reason of its scale and effects, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality as set out in that Article, this Directive does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives.

Removed:Article 5 – paragraph 6 – subparagraph 2 – point f a (new): (fa) Environmental claims by highly-polluting industries shall be made in relative terms to allow consumers to understand the product’s overall negative impact on the environment;

Added:(70) In accordance with the Joint Political Declaration of 28 September 2011 of Member States and the Commission on explanatory documents, Member States have undertaken to accompany, in justified cases, the notification of their transposition measures with one or more documents explaining the relationship between the components of a directive and the corresponding parts of national transposition instruments. With regard to this Directive, the legislator considers the transmission of such documents to be justified.

Removed:Article 5 – paragraph 8: 8. The Commission may adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 18 to supplement the requirements for communication of explicit environmental claims set out in Article 5 by specifying further the information that can be or shall be communicated regarding such environmental impacts, environmental aspects or environmental performance, so as to make sure that the consumers are not misled, in particular where the substantiation of certain environmental impacts, environmental aspects or environmental performance is subject to the rules established in delegated acts referred to in Article 3, paragraph 4(a) and paragraph 4(c).

Added:(71) The Annex to Regulation (EU) 1024/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council should be amended to include a reference to this Directive so as to facilitate the administrative cooperation between the competent authorities through the Internal Market Information System.

Removed:Article 7 – paragraph 1 a (new): 1a. If an environmental label demonstrates recognised excellent environmental performance as defined in ECGT Article 2(s) or is developed by recognised consumer organisations and when their method is based on the use of scientific and reproducible assessment methods, the label shall only be subject to verification according to Article 10(2), but not the requirements and related testing for each individual product or service group covered by the label.

Added:(72) The Annex to Regulation (EU) 2017/2394 of the European Parliament and of the Council should be amended to include a reference to this Directive so as to facilitate cross-border cooperation on enforcement of this Directive.

Removed:Article 7 – paragraph 2: 2. Only environmental labels complying with the requirements of the first paragraph and awarded under environmental labelling schemes that are based on scientific, independent and reproducible assessment methods and a lifecycle approach may present a rating or score of a product or trader based on an aggregated indicator of environmental impacts of a product or a trader.

Added:(73) Annex I of Directive (EU) 2020/1828 of the European Parliament and of the Council should be amended to include a reference to this Directive so as to ensure that the collective interests of consumers laid down in this Directive are protected.

Removed:Article 8 – paragraph 1: deleted

Added:HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Removed:Article 8 – paragraph 2 – point a: (a) information about the ownership and the decision-making bodies of the environmental labelling scheme is transparent, accessible, free of charge, easy to understand and sufficiently detailed and available online or on a durable medium;

Added:Article 1 Subject matter and scope [Am. 42]

Removed:Article 8 – paragraph 2 – point a a (new): (aa) the decision-making bodies of the environmental labelling scheme are free of conflicts of interest and independent from traders using the label;

Added:-1. The purpose of this Directive is to provide for a high level of consumer and environmental protection, while contributing to the functioning of the internal market, by approximating the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States related to environmental claims made on or with reference to products made available on the market or to traders making products available on the market. [Am. 43]

Removed:Article 8 – paragraph 2 – point c: (c) the conditions for joining the environmental labelling schemes are proportionate to the size and turnover of the companies in order not to exclude micro, small and medium enterprises, including by setting reasonable and non-discriminatory fees;

Added:1. This Directive applies to explicit environmental claims made by traders about products placed on the market or put into service, including through online platforms or traders and environmental labelling schemes in business-to-consumer commercial practices. [Am. 44]

Removed:Article 8 – paragraph 2 – point d: (d) the requirements for the environmental labelling scheme have been developed by experts that can ensure their scientific robustness and have been submitted for transparent consultation to a heterogeneous group of stakeholders or the stakeholders’ representatives that have reviewed them and ensured their relevance from a societal perspective. The stakeholders shall be free of any conflicts of interest, including by being independent from the owner of the environmental labelling scheme, and include, as a minimum, relevant experts;

Added:2. This Directive does not apply to environmental labelling schemes or to explicit environmental claims regulated by or substantiated by rules established in:

Removed:Article 8 – paragraph 2 – point f: (f) the environmental labelling scheme sets out transparent procedures for dealing with non-compliance and foresees the withdrawal or suspension of the environmental label in case of non-compliance with the requirements of the scheme.

Added:(a) Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council,

Removed:Article 8 – paragraph 2 – point f a (new): (fa) the environmental labelling scheme has a robust monitoring and evaluation system to regularly review its objectives, strategies, performance and impacts, based on the latest best practices, scientific data and evidence, and where relevant, to update its requirements in line with the findings.

Added:(b) Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council,

Removed:Article 8 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1: deleted

Added:(c) Regulation (EU) 2017/1369 of the European Parliament and of the Council;

Removed:Article 8 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 2: deleted

Added:(d) Directive 2009/125/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council,

Removed:Article 8 – paragraph 4: 4. From [OP: Please insert the date = the date of transposition of this Directive] any new environmental labelling schemes established by public authorities of the Member States or in third countries awarding environmental labels to be used on the Union market, shall be subject to approval, without undue delay, by the Commission prior to entering the Union market with the aim of ensuring that these labels provide added value in terms of their environmental ambition including notably their coverage of environmental impacts, environmental aspects or environmental performance, or of a certain product group or sector, as compared to the existing Union, national or regional schemes, and meet the requirements of this Directive. Environmental labelling schemes established by public authorities of the Member State or in third countries prior to that date may continue to award the environmental labels which are to be used on the Union market, provided they meet the requirements of this Directive.

Added:(e) Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council

Removed:Article 8 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1: Member States shall ensure that environmental labelling schemes established by private operators after [OP: Please insert the date = the date of transposition of this Directive] are only approved if those schemes provide added value in terms of their environmental ambition, including their extent of coverage of environmental impacts, environmental aspects or environmental performance, or of a certain product group or sector and their ability to support the green transition of SMEs, and meet the requirements of this Directive. Environmental labelling schemes established by private operators prior to that date may continue to award environmental labels, which are to be used on the Union market, provided they meet the requirements of this Directive.

Added:(f) Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council;

Removed:Article 8 – paragraph 6 – subparagraph 1 – point a a (new): (aa) a description of how the requirements set out in this Directive are met;

Added:(g) Regulation (EC) No 1221/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council;

Removed:Article 8 – paragraph 6 – subparagraph 1 – point c: (c) the evidence the scheme will provide added value as set out in in paragraph 4 for environmental labelling schemes established by public authorities, or in paragraph 5 for environmental labelling schemes established by private operators;

Added:(h) Directive 1999/94/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council;

Removed:Article 8 – paragraph 6 – subparagraph 2: The documents referred to in the first subparagraph shall be made publicly available and submitted to the Commission in case of schemes referred to in paragraph 4 or to the Member States’ authorities in case of schemes referred to in paragraph 5, together with the certificate of conformity for environmental labelling schemes drawn up in accordance with Article 10.

Added:(i) Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council; [Am. 45]

Removed:Article 8 – paragraph 7: 7. The Commission shall publish and keep-up-to date a list of environmental labelling schemes that comply with this Directive and environmental labels as laid down in Regulation (EC) No 66/2010, that are allowed to be used on the Union market after [OP: Please insert the date = the date of transposition of this Directive] pursuant to paragraphs 3, 4 and 5, including the information provided in accordance with paragraph 6. This list shall be available to the public free of charge and be presented in an understandable manner.

Added:(j) Directive 2006/66/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council;

Removed:Article 8 – paragraph 8 – subparagraph 1 – introductory part: In order to ensure a uniform application across the Union, the Commission shall by ... [12 months from the date of entry into force of this Directive] adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 18 to:

Added:(k) Directive 94/62/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council; [Am. 46]

Removed:Article 8 – paragraph 8 – subparagraph 1 – point a: (a) provide detailed requirements for approval and review of environmental labelling schemes pursuant to the criteria referred to in paragraphs 4 and 5;

Added:(l) Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council

Removed:Article 8 – paragraph 8 – subparagraph 2: deleted

Added:(m) Regulation (EU) … /… of the European Parliament and of the Council;

Removed:Article 9 – paragraph 1: Member States shall ensure that the information used for substantiation of explicit environmental claims is reviewed and updated by traders when there are circumstances that may change the accuracy of a claim, and no later than 5 years from the date when the information referred to in Article 5(6) is provided. In the review, the trader shall revise the used underlying information to ensure that the requirements of Articles 3 and 4 are fully complied with.

Added:(n) Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council;

Removed:Article 9 – paragraph 1 a (new): The trader shall not be obliged to review the substantiation nor reapply for certification in case of spelling mistakes or other cosmetic changes in the text of the claim if it does not affect the substance and accuracy of the claim.

Added:(o) Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 of the European Parliament and of the Council and other Union, national or international rules, standards or guidelines for financial services, financial instruments, and financial products; [Am. 47]

Removed:Article 10 – paragraph 1: 1. Member States shall set up procedures for verifying the substantiation and communication of explicit environmental claims against the requirements set out in Articles 3 to 7. The Commission shall regularly review those procedures.

Added:(oa) Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council; [Am. 48]