What is the EmpCo Directive?

EmpCo is Directive (EU) 2024/825 on empowering consumers for the green transition. It is not a free-standing regulation but amends two existing directives: the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (2005/29/EC) and the Consumer Rights Directive (2011/83/EU). It was adopted on 28 February 2024, had to be transposed by 27 March 2026 and applies from 27 September 2026.

Why it ends up in competition law

The name sounds like consumer information. In practice EmpCo is competition law. Germany transposed it by amending the Unfair Competition Act, promulgated in the Federal Law Gazette of 19 February 2026. Six new entries now sit on the blacklist in the annex to section 3(3) of that act. What stands there is prohibited towards consumers in all circumstances, with no balancing of interests and no case-by-case assessment.

From that follows the most important practical difference to regimes such as the PPWR: there is no authority that reviews anything in advance, and no approval procedure. Enforcement runs through competitors, consumer associations and qualified entities, that is through warning letters and litigation after the fact. The evidence is not requested before publication but after a complaint, and then at short notice.

The six prohibitions

• No. 2a, labels without a certification scheme. A sustainability label may only be used if it is based on a certification scheme or was established by public authorities. Self-created logos and own labels without independent verification drop out, even where the underlying claim is factually correct.
• No. 4a, generic environmental claims without evidence. Recital 9 names among others “environmentally friendly”, “green”, “nature’s friend”, “eco”, “climate friendly”, “energy efficient”, “biodegradable” and “biobased”. They remain permissible only where recognised excellent environmental performance is demonstrated.
• No. 4b, a partial aspect presented as the whole. The classic example is the shampoo bottle advertised as “made from recycled material” where only the cap contains recyclate.
• No. 4c, carbon neutrality through offsetting. Claims such as “climate neutral” or “CO2 neutral” are prohibited where they rest on offsetting payments.
• No. 10a, a legal requirement presented as a distinctive feature. Advertising the absence of a substance that is banned for the whole product category anyway falls under this.
• No. 23d, premature obsolescence. Seven practices around durability, reparability and software updates. Irrelevant for packaging, but part of the picture.

What comes on top of the blacklist

Three changes in the operative text apply case by case and are often overlooked. Environmental and social characteristics as well as circularity aspects such as durability, reparability and recyclability now expressly count among the main characteristics of a product. Forward-looking claims about future environmental performance are misleading unless they rest on clear, objective, publicly available and verifiable commitments. And comparison services must disclose their method.

What EmpCo covers and what it does not

The directive does not regulate the composition of products, only how they are presented to consumers. It covers every commercial practice towards consumers: packaging, label, website, online shop, social media, catalogue, trade fair stand and point of sale. Images, symbols and brand names count too. Pure business-to-business communication is outside its scope, but any statement that travels from a data sheet or a sustainability report into consumer advertising is not.

Where to start

Inventory every environmental claim, assign each to one of the six numbers, and for the critical ones either obtain robust evidence or make the wording specific enough that it is no longer a generic environmental claim. Packaging artwork first, because prepress, sign-off and selling off stock run one after another. Everything on EmpCo, and the free claim check assesses up to five claims.