In February 2024 the EU adopted the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive — Directive (EU) 2024/825. Member states must write it into national law by 27 March 2026, and the rules apply to businesses from 27 September 2026. It is one of the more consequential pieces of consumer-protection law in years, because it targets the vaguest and most common marketing language: "eco-friendly," "green," "natural," "climate neutral." (You may have heard about a separate, more sweeping proposal — the Green Claims Directive. The Commission announced its intention to withdraw that proposal in June 2025, and it never became law. This piece is about the directive that actually takes effect.)
The core idea is straightforward: you can no longer make a broad environmental claim you can't back up. A generic claim like "eco-friendly" is only allowed if you can demonstrate recognised, excellent environmental performance behind it — and you can't put a sustainability label on a product unless it comes from an approved certification scheme, which rules out self-invented badges. In practice, that should make labels mean more. "Compostable" should point to a real standard, such as TÜV Austria's OK Compost. "Organic" has its own separate legal footing: for food and farm products it's governed by the EU Organic Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2018/848) and the familiar green-leaf logo, while for cosmetics private standards like COSMOS or NATRUE apply. The common thread is that a claim now has to trace back to something verifiable, not to an internal assessment or a nice-sounding word.
The directive is especially strict on carbon claims. A product can no longer be marketed as "carbon neutral" or "climate positive" when the claim rests solely on buying offset credits for projects that may or may not actually sequester carbon. Claims about future performance — "climate neutral by 2030" — have to be backed by a clear, independently verified plan rather than an aspiration. The bar moves away from paying to look clean and toward showing direct, measurable impact.
For retailers, this redraws the playing field. Companies that have done the real work — genuine certifications, transparent supply chains, claims they can substantiate — will stand out. Companies that leaned on marketing language without substance will have to either prove what they've said or take it down. That's a healthy correction for a market where the EU's own review found a great many environmental claims to be vague, misleading, or unsubstantiated — which is much of the reason this directive exists.
This is the standard we're trying to build Grown. around, and we'd rather tell you exactly where we stand than overclaim. Our partner index lists independent European shops we've researched ourselves, with the desk research for each one published so you can check our work. Our own-brand kits are still in early access — you can browse them and join the waitlist, but we're not going to put a certification on them that we don't hold, and we won't claim a verification process we haven't finished building. When the rules tighten in September 2026, the honest version of this work doesn't change. It just becomes the baseline everyone has to meet.
The PPWR (EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation) took effect 16 days ago and is the other landmark regulation reshaping what you can trust on shelves. Read our guide: [The EU's New Packaging Rules →](/blog/eu-packaging-rules-ppwr-consumer-guide)