The EU Green Claims Rules Land On 27 September. Here Is What Fashion Brands Need To Change.
From 27 September 2026, if you sell to shoppers in the EU, vague green claims like "eco friendly" or "green" are banned unless you can prove recognised excellent environmental performance.
Homemade sustainability badges are out. And "carbon neutral" claims based on offsets are gone for good.
The rules come from the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive (ECGT, sometimes called EmpCo). There's no grace period either. They cover products already sitting on shelves, not just new ones.
What changed on 27 September
These practices are now blacklisted, meaning a regulator doesn't have to prove anyone was actually misled:
Generic claims like "eco friendly", "green" or "climate friendly", unless you can show recognised excellent environmental performance (the EU Ecolabel is the obvious route).
Sustainability labels that aren't based on a proper certification scheme with independent third party checks, or set up by a public authority. Your in house leaf logo is out.
Offset based claims that a product has a neutral, reduced or positive climate impact.
Whole product claims when only one part qualifies. Recycled packaging doesn't make the jumper recycled.
Claims about the future, like "net zero by 2030", now need a detailed public plan with measurable, time bound targets, checked by an independent expert. And social claims count too, so "ethically made" needs evidence behind it.
The bits fashion brands keep missing
The European Commission's own Q&A says pictures can be claims. Leaves, trees, and green backgrounds next to a product can all count.
Brand and product names count as well. So does copy lifted from your sustainability report and pasted onto a product page.
"We're a UK brand. Does this apply to us?"
If you sell, market or ship to EU consumers, yes. Where your business is based doesn't matter.
Enforcement runs country by country. Fines must reach at least 4% of annual turnover in the member states concerned, or at least €2 million where turnover figures aren't available. In Germany and Austria, competitors can get injunctions against your claims within days.
Transposition has been messy. The Commission opened infringement procedures against 20 member states in May 2026 for missing the deadline. So the detail varies by market, but the core rules apply across the EU.
What to do this week
List every claim you make: website, hang tags, packaging, socials, marketplace listings.
Sort them into generic, specific, labels, future promises and offset claims.
Make generic claims specific and evidenced ("80% recycled polyester" beats "eco friendly") or cut them.
For old stock, stickers or corrected point of sale info are acceptable interim fixes, according to the Commission's Q&A.
Put a sign off step in place, so nothing green goes live without someone checking the evidence.
I'm not a lawyer, so anything genuinely borderline deserves a proper legal look. But most fixes are just tidying up words.
Want a second pair of eyes on your claims before a regulator gets there first? Email me at rodica@rodicamurphy.com.
Sources
Latham & Watkins, "EU Empowering Consumers Directive: New Rules on Green Claims Apply From 27 September 2026" (9 September 2026). European Commission, ECGT Questions and Answers (June 2026). Directive (EU) 2024/825, EUR-Lex.
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