Opinions may differ on the specific aspects and even on the content of the concept itself, but there appears to be a consensus on the principle that things need to become more sustainable. From a legislative perspective, there are several ways to achieve that objective.
One approach is to require businesses to comply with minimum sustainability requirements. An example is the so-called EU Methane Regulation (2024/1787), which aims to significantly reduce methane emissions from the oil, gas and coal sectors by 2030. At the same time, the EU Methane Regulation illustrates the challenges. On 20 July 2026, the European Commission adopted two recommendations, advising the temporary suspension of certain penalties (see our recent newsletter on this topic). A different example is the minimum legal guarantee period of 2 years for consumer sales, as transposed into Articles 1649bis et seq. of the former Civil Code. This in part, also discourages the throwaway culture.
Equally important is ensuring that consumers are able to make informed purchasing decisions. Sustainability has become a key factor in attracting customers and investors and the temptation to make ambitious claims is considerable. Consumers are bombarded with environmental and social claims, such as "sustainable", "all natural", "100% recyclable", "ethical", "circular", "socially responsible", "carbon neutral", "biodegradable", "energy efficient", "local" and "fair", etc. many of which are difficult to verify. The result is that consumers may, pun intended , no longer be able to see the wood for the trees.
Green and social claims constitute commercial practices that are subject either to specific Belgian or European sectoral legislation or standards or, in the absence thereof, to the general legal framework, such as Articles VI.93 to VI.100 of the Code of Economic Law, which transpose the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (Directive 2005/29/EC). Misleading practices may be subtle. For example, it may already be misleading to implicitly present an environmental benefit, however genuine, as an exclusive feature when it merely reflects a legal requirement or is generally accepted. The Consumer Rights Directive (2011/83) is also relevant, as it seeks to ensure that consumers received correct information, particularly in the context of online sales.
Administrative enforcement is carried out by the Economic Inspection (FPS Economy). To assist companies with this, the FPS Economy published Guidelines on Environmental Claims, which set out the key principles relating to greenwashing and identify good practices. Infringements may also give rise to penalties in the form of fines. In addition, competitors and other stakeholders may initiate cease-and-desist proceedings before the President of the Business Court, sitting as in summary proceedings, and/or seek damages.
However, these measures were ultimately considered insufficient.
On 28 February 2024, the European Union therefore adopted Directive (EU) 2024/825, better known as the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive (EmpCo). The Directive aims to provide consumers with stronger protection against misleading sustainability claims and to enable them to make better-informed purchase decisions. The directive amends both the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (2005/29/EC) and the Consumer Rights Directive (2011/83/EU) by introducing more specific prohibitions and additional information requirements.
The principal changes can be summarised as follows:
1) General environmental claims
such as "environmentally friendly"; "green";
"ecological"; "climate friendly"; "sustainable";
etc. are prohibited unless they can be substantiated by recognised excellent
environmental performance.
2) Only sustainability labels and
quality labels based on a certification scheme or established by a public
authority are allowed. The certification must furthermore comply with
transparent and objective criteria.
3) Addressing premature
obsolescence and transparency. Consumers must have received correct information
on the durability, repairability and expected lifetime of products. This
includes, among other things, the minimum period during which software updates
will be made available and, where applicable, the availability and estimated
cost of spare parts, etc..
From a practical perspective, it is also important that the mandatory reminder concerning the existence of the legal guarantee of conformity, including the minimum two-year guarantee period (cf. Articles 1649bis et seq. of the former Civil Code), is harmonised. The Implementing Regulation 2025/1960 “on the design and content of the harmonised notice on the legal guarantee of conformity and of the harmonised label for the commercial guarantee of durability” prescribes a mandatory format.
The Act of 22 July 2026 transposing Directive (EU) 2024/825 was published in the Belgian Official Gazette on 4 August 2026. The Act faithfully transposes the Directive and primarily introduces additions to the general pre-contractual information obligations (Article VI.2/2 of the Code of Economic Law), as well as to the provisions governing distance selling (Article VI.45 of the Code of Economic Law), off-premises contracts (Article VI.64 of the Code of Economic Law) and information deemed essential or commercial practices classified as misleading (Articles VI.97–100 of the Code of Economic Law). To this end, a number of definitions in Book I have been introduced or clarified.
The new rules constitute a significant tightening of the European rules on consumer protection. Companies will be required to base their sustainability communications to an even greater extent on transparent, verifiable and scientifically substantiated information. Failure to do so results not only in reputational damage but also the risk of enforcement action for engaging in unfair commercial practices.
The Act enters
into force on 27 September 2026. A six-month (half-hearted) transitional
period nevertheless applies during which infringements relating to goods that
were produced, packaged or sold before 27 September 2026 temporarily fall
outside the enforcement powers of the Economic Inspection (Article 15 of the
Transposition Act, juncto Art. XV.2, §2 of the Code of Economic Law).