Vague environmental promises on product labels face a looming deadline in the European Union. Starting September 27, companies must back up terms like “eco-friendly” or “green” with solid evidence, or strip them from packaging and advertising entirely.
Czech lawmakers are currently folding these EU rules into national legislation through amendments to the Consumer Protection Act and the Civil Code. The Chamber of Deputies advanced the bill to its final approval stage in late June. Once enacted, the changes will reshape how businesses communicate sustainability claims to Czech shoppers.
The core problem: more than half of environmental claims examined in EU-wide inspections during 2014 and 2020 proved vague, misleading, or completely unsupported. Czech authorities have echoed that finding. Vladimír Kočí from the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, calls one common tactic “the concealment method,” where manufacturers spotlight a single positive attribute while burying negative impacts.
The new directive expands the blacklist of banned commercial practices from 27 to 39. Generic environmental slogans without recognized certification will now fall under automatic prohibition. Likewise, claims about future performance, such as “climate-neutral by 2030,” require detailed implementation plans verified by independent experts. Carbon offsetting alone cannot justify labels like “carbon-positive” or “climate-impact-free.”
Meanwhile, courts across Europe have already started penalizing greenwashing. France fined TotalEnergies in October for misleading climate advertising. Germany hit asset manager DWS with a EUR 25 million penalty over exaggerated ESG credentials. FlixBus also faced sanctions for falsely advertising its Belgian services as the most environmentally friendly transport option.
For Czech businesses, the transition includes a potential two-year grace period for products already on shelves that fail to meet the new standards. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has signaled that supervisory authorities should avoid disproportionate measures, such as destroying non-compliant goods, during the initial phase. Fines for violations remain capped at CZK 5 million under existing unfair commercial practice sanctions.
Consumer advocates expect minimal disruption for responsible retailers. dTest legal expert Mikuláš Novotný argues that companies already substantiating their claims will face little additional cost, while gaining protection against competitors who previously relied on hollow environmental posturing.
