One pack, several EU markets: where green claims create legal risk

Updated 17 September 2026

Green claims in EU markets carry different legal risks depending on where the pack is sold: the same wording may be challenged through different routes in Spain, France, Germany or the Netherlands. Your team has approved a carton for those four markets. The front says “sustainable packaging”, while the supplier’s paperwork covers only the recycled content of one component. That gap matters in every market where the carton is sold, even though each country may reach it through a different legal route.

The EU’s Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive, 2024/825 entered into force on 26 March 2024. Member States had until 27 March 2026 to transpose it, and the Directive sets 27 September 2026 as the date to apply the new rules. As of this article’s update, that application date is still ahead. A shared pack therefore calls for a check of the law applicable in each destination market.

For a company selling one design across several borders, the useful question is simple: what does this particular claim promise in each market, and can the evidence support that promise?

Start with the words on the pack

“Sustainable packaging” sounds like a conclusion about the whole pack. A certificate for its cardboard may establish a narrower fact, but it says little about the window, adhesive or final assembly. A clearer claim identifies the component, the measured property and the evidence behind it. Local language matters too: a qualifying line that works in English may lose its meaning when shortened in German or French.

Under the new EU rules, a broad written claim such as “green” faces a specific prohibition unless the trader can show recognised excellent environmental performance relevant to it. A precise claim with clear information on the same medium is assessed differently, though it still needs evidence and must not mislead. The Commission’s June 2026 guidance uses packaging examples to explain where that line falls.

The same review should cover logos, seals and imagery. A leaf motif alone is not automatically a prohibited generic written claim. Set beside “planet friendly”, however, it can strengthen an environmental message that consumers understand more broadly than the underlying evidence.

Then look at the countries receiving it

On 28 May 2026, the Commission opened infringement procedures against 20 Member States, including Spain, France and the Netherlands. At that point, those countries had not communicated complete transposition. The notice is a dated snapshot, so it cannot tell you what law applies in each market today. For that, check the national text and its dates. Earlier consumer laws may also allow misleading environmental marketing to be challenged.

Local enforcement adds another layer. Italy’s competition authority fined the operator of Shein €1 million in August 2025 over environmental communications under the law then in force. In the Netherlands, the ACM required Albert Heijn to change sustainability claims before the new rules applied. These decisions show why the date of a country’s transposition is only one part of its risk profile.

Competitors may also have a route to court. Germany’s Unfair Competition Act provides for civil claims by eligible competitors, and Spain’s Unfair Competition Act has its own rules on standing. The practical route, evidence required and available remedies depend on the market; Germany is not the only country where a competitor can act.

Where an implementing law is still pending, pre-existing national rules against misleading consumer practices continue to matter. An untransposed directive does not, by itself, create a new private-company penalty in that country. Our EU country reference records exactly which countries appeared in the Commission’s May notice, without treating that notice as a current transposition register.

What to do with shared artwork

Keep one evidence file for each claim and show precisely what it covers. That file should include the test method or certificate, product or component, relevant dates and approved wording in each language. When a local translation expands the promise, revise the wording before the next print run rather than relying on the original evidence file.

Existing stock needs a separate decision. The new directive contains no general sell-through period for old packaging. The Commission and national consumer authorities describe practical corrections, including covering a claim or adding information at the point of sale. They also explain how proportionate compliance efforts may be considered in enforcement. Record print dates, volumes, destinations and the steps taken to fix each claim.

Sometimes one carefully drafted message can travel across the EU. When national requirements or the wording needed to make a claim accurate differ, a separate local version may be simpler. Either choice should begin with the actual markets, the actual artwork and the proof available for each statement.

A cross-border strategy is not simply about translating the same claim. It means deciding whether you can substantiate that claim in each market before the packaging goes to print.