Greenwashing in Spain: what the law already requires of environmental claims

Updated 17 September 2026

A brand prints “sustainable packaging” on thousands of boxes and starts planning its next campaign. Before the boxes go to stores, someone asks what that phrase actually proves. The supplier sends a certificate for the cardboard, yet the adhesive and plastic window fall outside its scope. With that in mind, the wording deserves another look.

Directive 2024/825 sets 27 September 2026 as the application date for its new rules. On 28 May 2026, the Commission included Spain among 20 countries that had not communicated complete transposition at that time. That snapshot does not establish the current state of Spain’s legislative process; to assess a claim made here today, we must start with Spanish law already in force.

What can already be challenged in Spain

Spain’s Unfair Competition Act covers false information, but it can also catch a true statement presented in a way that misleads consumers. The cardboard certificate, for example, may be perfectly valid while “sustainable packaging” implies a benefit that extends to the whole box. Omissions matter too, because a material limitation tucked away from the label can change the impression a customer takes from it.

The General Advertising Act and the consolidated Consumer Protection Act complete that framework. Alongside action by consumer authorities, Spain’s Unfair Competition Act allows eligible parties to bring civil claims. They may include competitors whose interests have been harmed or put at risk.

It therefore makes sense to review each claim against existing Spanish law. The Ministry’s draft Sustainable Consumption Act shows one route towards implementation, but a draft creates no obligations of its own. Until the Directive is transposed, it cannot, on its own, create a new penalty for a private company in Spain.

What Directive 2024/825 will change

Directive (EU) 2024/825 entered into force on 26 March 2024. Member States had until 27 March 2026 to transpose it and must apply the new measures from 27 September. The text introduces specific prohibitions and criteria for assessing certain commercial practices.

The new bans include certain generic environmental claims without recognised excellent environmental performance relevant to the message. They also cover sustainability labels that are neither based on a certification scheme nor established by a public authority. Another rule prohibits attributing a neutral, reduced or positive greenhouse gas impact to a product on the basis of offsets.

Claims about future environmental performance require verifiable commitments, a plan with measurable targets and independent verification. The Directive also prohibits presenting compliance with legal requirements as a distinguishing feature when those requirements apply to every product in the relevant category sold in the EU.

The distinctions matter on an actual pack. A properly supported statement about one packaging material can be made without describing the entire product as “eco-friendly”. Leaves, forests and green backgrounds are not automatically prohibited either, although they may reinforce a misleading environmental message in context. The European Commission’s guidance explains these differences using packaging examples.

How to review packaging already in print

Start by collecting everything a customer can see: the box, website, retailer listing and adverts. Then work out what each claim is about. Does it describe the cardboard, the complete pack, the product or the company? A certificate for one component cannot quietly become evidence for all four.

Keep the certificate, its scope, expiry date and supplier details alongside the exact artwork it supports. If there have been several print runs, record how many units were produced and where they are now. Those facts will help you decide whether the wording needs tightening, a visible qualification will do, or the claim should be covered.

The Directive provides no general grace period for packaging already made. According to the Commission and national consumer authorities, old stock must also comply with the new rules where those rules apply. Where a country has yet to transpose the Directive, claims against companies still depend on existing domestic law. Authorities enforcing the new measures may take reasonable corrective efforts into account, as explained in the European guidance on existing stock. That depends on the circumstances; it is not an automatic exemption.

A useful review ends with a decision for each claim: keep it with its evidence, make it more precise or remove it. Before another print run, LegaleGo can check your packaging copy against its evidence and the law applicable in Spain. Tell us which claims you are using.

Greenwashing does not begin when a company lies. It begins when a company claims more than it can prove.

Selling in other EU countries? See our reference to the Commission’s 28 May announcement.