29 Amendments of Daniel BUDA related to 2023/0085(COD)
Amendment 12 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) Claiming to be “green” and sustainable has become a competitiveness factor, with green products registering greater growth than standard products. If goods and services offered and purchased on the internal market are not as environmentally friendly in terms of compliance as presented, this would mislead the consumers, hamper the objectives linked to the green transition and prevent the reduction of negative environmental impacts. The potential of green markets is not fully realised. Different requirements imposed by national legislation or private initiatives regulating environmental claims create a burden and uncertainty for companies in cross-border trade, as they need to comply with different requirements in each Member State. This affects their capacity to operate in and take advantage of the internal market. At the same time, market participants have difficulties with identifying reliable environmental claims and making optimal purchasing decisions on the internal market. With a proliferation of different labels and calculation methods on the market, it is difficult for consumers, businesses, investors and stakeholders to establish if claims are trustworthy and if they ensure compliance.
Amendment 13 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 4
Recital 4
(4) It is therefore necessary to harmonise further the regulation of environmental claims. Such harmonisation will strengthen the market for more sustainable products and traders by avoiding market fragmentation due to diverging national approaches. It will also set a benchmark that can drive the global transition to a just, climate-neutral, resource-efficient and circular economy68 . The purpose of Europe-wide harmonised regulations is to reduce trade barriers and the costs linked to compliance with different standards. This will make cross- border trade easier and encourage the development of a global market for sustainable products. __________________ 68 Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: A new Circular Economy Action Plan For a cleaner and more competitive Europe, COM/2020/98 final.
Amendment 14 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) Detailed Union rules on substantiation of explicit environmental claims, applicable to companies operating on the Union market in business to consumer communication, will contribute to the green transition towards a circular, climate-neutral and clean economy in the Union by enabling consumers to take informed purchasing decisions, and will help create a level-playing field for market operators making such claims. However, this new regulatory framework should not lead to disproportionate additional administrative or financial burdens for companies, especially for small and medium sized enterprises.
Amendment 17 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 9
Recital 9
(9) Within the context of the European Green Deal, the Farm to Fork Strategy and the Biodiversity Strategy, and in accordance with the target of achieving 25% of EU agricultural land under organic farming by 2030 and a significant increase in organic aquaculture and with the Action Plan on the Development of Organic Production (COM(2021) 141), organic farming and organic production need to be developed further, ensuring support, for small and medium sized enterprises in particular, so that they can contribute to this. As regards Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council 73 , this Directive should not apply to environmental claims on organically certified products substantiated on the basis of that Regulation, related, for instance, to the use of pesticides, fertilisers and anti- microbials or, for instance, to positive impacts of organic farming on biodiversity, soil or water74 . It also has a positive impact on biodiversity, it creates jobs and attracts young farmers. Consumers recognise its value. In accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/848, the terms “bio” and “eco” and their derivatives, whether alone or in combination, are only to be used in the Union for products, their ingredients or feed materials that fall under the scope of that Regulation where they have been produced in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/848. For instance, in order to call the cotton “eco”, it has to be certified as organic, as it falls within the scope of Regulation (EU) 2018/848. On the contrary, if the dishwasher detergent is called “eco”, this does not fall within the scope of Regulation (EU) 2018/848, and is instead regulated by the provisions of Directive 2005/29/EC. __________________ 73 Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 (OJ L 150, 14.6.2018, p. 1). 74 https://agriculture.ec.europa.eu/system/files /2023-01/agri-market-brief-20-organic- farming-eu_en_1.pdf.
Amendment 18 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 14
Recital 14
(14) The proposal for a Directive on empowering consumers for the green transition which amends Directive 2005/29/EC, sets out a number of specific requirements on environmental claims and prohibits generic environmental claims which are not based on recognised excellent environmental performancestandards relevant to the claim. Examples of such generic environmental claims are ‘eco- friendly’, ‘eco’, ‘green’, ‘nature’s friend’, ‘ecological’ and ‘environmentally correct’. This Directive should complement the requirements set out in that proposal by addressing specific aspects and requirements for explicit environmental claims as regards their substantiation, communication and verification, without, however, introducing disproportionate administrative or financial burdens for companies, especially for small and medium enterprises. The requirements set out in this Directive should apply to specific aspects of explicit environmental claims and will prevail over the requirements set out in Directive 2005/29/EC with regard to those aspects in case of conflict, pursuant to Article 3(4) of that Directive.
Amendment 19 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 15
Recital 15
(15) In order to ensure that consumers are provided with reliable, comparable and verifiable information which enables them to make more environmentally sustainable decisions and to reduce the risk of ‘greenwashing, it is necessary to establish requirements for substantiation of explicit environmental claims. Such substantiation should take into account internationally recognised scientific approaches to identifying and measuring environmental impacts, environmental aspects and environmental performance of products or traders, it should be based on a cost- benefit impact assessment, focusing in particular on the impact on small and medium sized enterprises, and it should result in reliable, transparent, comparable and verifiable information to the consumer.
Amendment 21 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 16
Recital 16
(16) The assessment made to substantiate explicit environmental claims needs to consider the life-cycle of the product or of the overall activities of the trader and should not omit any relevant environmental aspects or environmental impacts, bearing, however, in mind the need to limit administrative and financial burdens on traders as much as possible. The benefits claimed should not result in an unjustified transfer of negative impacts to other stages of the life cycle of a product or trader, or to the creation or increase of other negative environmental impacts.
Amendment 22 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 18
Recital 18
(18) In line with Directive 2005/29/EC as amended by the proposal for a Directive on empowering consumers for the green transition, the trader should not present requirements imposed by law on products within a given product category as a distinctive feature of the trader’s offer or advertise benefits for consumers that are considered as common practice in the relevant market. The information used to substantiate explicit environmental claims should therefore make it possible to identify the product’s or trader’s environmental performance in comparison to the common practice for products in the respective product group, such as food, or in the respective sector. This is necessary to underpin the assessment whether the explicit environmental claims can be made with regard to a given product or trader in line with the function of an environmental claim, which is to demonstrate that a product or trader has a positive impact or no impact on the environment, or that a product or a trader is less damaging to the environment than other products or traders. The common practice could be equivalent to the minimum legal requirements that are applicable to the specific environmental aspect or environmental performance, for example as regards product composition, mandatory recycled content or end-of-life treatment. However, in case majority of products within the product group or majority of traders within the sector perform better than those legal requirements, the minimum legal requirements should not be considered as common practice.
Amendment 31 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 23
Recital 23
(23) The information used to substantiate explicit environmental claims should be science based and up-to-date, and any lack of consideration of certain environmental impacts or environmental aspects should be carefully considered. This approach ensures that environmental claims are based on scientific fact and that the environmental impact is accurately assessed.
Amendment 35 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 30
Recital 30
(30) While unfair commercial practices, including misleading environmental claims, are prohibited for all traders pursuant to Directive 2005/29/EC84 , an administrative burden linked to substantiation and verification of environmental claims on the smallest companies could be disproportionate and should be avoided. To this endIn order to promote a more flexible approach and support sustainable development among microenterprises, microenterprises should be exempted from the requirements on substantiation of Article 3 and 4 unless these enterprises wish to obtain a certificate of conformity of explicit environmental claims that will be recognised by the competent authorities across the Union. __________________ 84 Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to- consumer commercial practices in the internal market and amending Council Directive 84/450/EEC, Directives 97/7/EC, 98/27/EC and 2002/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council (Unfair Commercial Practices Directive) (OJ L 149, 11.6.2005, p. 22) as amended.
Amendment 36 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 31
Recital 31
(31) In order to meet both the needs of traders regarding dynamic marketing strategies and the needs of consumers regarding more detailed, and more accurate, environmental information, the Commission may adopt delegated acts to supplement the provisions on substantiation of explicit environmental claims by further specifying the criteria for such substantiation with regard to certain claims (e.g. climate-related claims, including claims about offsets, “climate neutrality” or similar, recyclability and recycled content). The Commission should be empowered to further establish rules for measuring and calculating the environmental impacts, environmental aspects and environmental performance, by determining which activities, processes, materials, emissions or use of a product or trader contribute significantly or cannot contribute to the relevant environmental impacts and environmental aspects; by determining for which environmental aspects and environmental impacts primary information should be used; and by determining the criteria to assess the accuracy of primary and secondary information. While in most cases the Commission would consider the need for adopting these rules only after having the results of the monitoring of the evolution of environmental claims on the Union market, for some types of claims it may be necessary for the Commission to adopt supplementary rules before the results of this monitoring are available. For example, in case of climate-related claims it may be necessary to adopt such supplementary acts in order to operationalise the provisions on substantiation of claims based on offsets.
Amendment 43 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 35
Recital 35
(35) In order to facilitate consumers’ choices of more sustainable products and to incentivise efforts of traders to lower their environmental impacts, when the claim communicated relates to future environmental performance, it should as a priority be based on improvements inside trader’s own operations and value chains rather than relying on offsetting of greenhouse gas emissions or other environmental impacts. This approach ensures a real commitment to sustainability and to reducing dependence on solutions that could be considered as mere corrective or compensation measures.
Amendment 45 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 43
Recital 43
(43) In order to combat misleading explicit environmental claims communicated in the form of environmental labels and increase consumer trust in environmental labels, this Directive should establish common governance criteria that ensure uniformity and clarity and that all environmental labelling schemes are to comply with, to help consumers make informed decisions, fully aware of the facts, complementing thus the requirements set in the said proposal amending Directive 2005/29/EC.
Amendment 46 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 45
Recital 45
(45) In order not to create unnecessary barriers to international trade and to ensure, to avoid unfair competition practices in the internal market and to ensure fair competition and equal treatment with the public schemes established in the Union, the public authorities outside of the Union setting up new labelling schemes should be allowed to request approval from the Commission for use of the label on the Union market. This approval should be conditional on compliance with the rules established under this Directive and on the scheme’s contribution to reaching the objectives of this Directive and provided that the schemes demonstrate added value in terms of environmental ambition, coverage of environmental impacts, product group or sector and meet all the requirements of this Directive.
Amendment 47 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 47
Recital 47
(47) In order to provide legal certainty and facilitate enforcement of the provisions on new national and regional officially recognised environmental labelling schemes and new private labelling schemes, the Commission should publish a list of such schemes that may either continue to apply on the Union market or enter the Union market. The publication of official lists would ensure clarity for traders and consumers alike, making it easier to access relevant information and removing any ambiguity regarding the recognition and application of different labelling systems.
Amendment 49 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 49
Recital 49
(49) It is essential that explicit environmental claims reflect correctly the environmental performance and environmental impacts covered by the claim, and consider the latest scientific evidence, without, however, introducing disproportionate administrative and financial burdens for companies, especially for small and medium enterprises. Member States should therefore ensure that the trader making the claim reviews and updates the substantiation and communication of the claims at least every 5 years to ensure compliance with the requirements of this Directive
Amendment 52 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 54
Recital 54
(54) Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) should be able to benefit from the opportunities provided by the market for more sustainable products but they could face proportionately higher costs and difficulties in complying with some of the requirements on substantiation and verification of explicit environmental claims. The EU and Member States should provide adequate information and raise awareness of the ways to comply with the requirements of this Directive, ensure targeted and specialised training, and provide specific assistance and support, including financial, to SMEs wishing to make explicit environmental claims on their products or as regards their activities. Member States actions should be takenThe European Union should set up a fair system for small and medium sized enterprises to put into practice the provisions of this Directive, ensuring technical and financial support, helping Member States to take actions in respect of applicable State aid rules.
Amendment 56 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 60
Recital 60
(60) When competent authorities detect an infringement of requirements of this Directive they should carry out an evaluation and based on its results notify the trader about the infringement detected and require that corrective actions are taken by the trader. To minimise the misleading effect on consumers of the non- compliant explicit environmental claim or non-compliant environmental labelling scheme, the trader should be required by the competent authorities to take an effective and rapid action to remediate that infringement. The corrective action required should be proportionate to the infringement detected and its expectedproven harmful effects on the consumers.
Amendment 57 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 62
Recital 62
(62) Competent authorities should also carry out checks of explicit environmental claims on the Union market when in possession of and based on relevant information, including substantiated concerns submitted by third parties. Third parties submitting a concern should be able to demonstrate a sufficient interest or maintain the impairment of a right.
Amendment 58 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 63
Recital 63
(63) In order to ensure that traders are effectively dissuaded from non-compliance with the requirements of this Directive, Member States should lay down rules on penalties applicable to infringements of this Directive and ensure that those rules are directly proportional to the damage caused and that they are implemented. The penalties provided for should be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. To facilitate a more consistent application of penalties, it is necessary to establish common non- exhaustive criteria for determining the types and levels of penalties to be imposed in case of infringements, in relation to the damage caused. That criteria should include, inter alia, the nature and gravity of the infringement, the damage caused by the infringement, as well as the economic benefits derived from the infringement in order to ensure that those responsible are deprived of those benefits.
Amendment 60 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 65
Recital 65
(65) When adopting delegated acts pursuant to Article 290 TFEU, it is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level involving all Member States, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making 89 . In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States’ experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts. __________________ 89 OJ L 123, 12.5.2016, p. 1.
Amendment 61 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 66
Recital 66
(66) In order to assess the performance of the legislation against the objectives that it pursues, the Commission should carry out an periodic evaluation of this Directive and present a report on the main findings to the European Parliament and the Council. In order to inform an evaluation of this Directive, Member States should regularly collect information on the application of this Directive and provide it to the Commission on an annual basis, this being a key part of the continuous monitoring and evaluation of the Directive’s implementation. This approach makes it possible to amend and improve legislation based on practical experiences and developments in the field of environmental and consumer protection.
Amendment 143 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 1
Article 8 – paragraph 1
(1) Environmental labelling scheme means a certification scheme which certifies that a product, a product-related process or a trader complies with the requirements for an environmental label.
Amendment 171 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 12 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 12 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
The European Union and the Member States shall take appropriate measures to help small and medium sized enterprises apply the requirements set out in this Directive. Those measures shall at least include technical assistance, guidelines or similar mechanisms to raise awareness of ways to comply with the requirements on explicit environmental claims. In addition, without prejudice to applicable state aid rules, such measures may include:
Amendment 177 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 14 – paragraph 2 – point a
Article 14 – paragraph 2 – point a
(a) the power of access to any relevant documents, data or information related to an infringement of this Directive, in any form or format and irrespective of their storage medium, or the place where they are stored, complying with the rules in force concerning the protection of know- how and trade secrets, and the power to take or obtain copies thereof;
Amendment 178 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 14 – paragraph 3
Article 14 – paragraph 3
(3) Competent authorities may use any information, document, finding, statement or intelligence as evidence for the purpose of their investigations, irrespective of the format in which or medium on which they are stored, complying with the rules on the protection of personal data, know-how and trade secrets.
Amendment 185 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 17 – paragraph 2 – point d a (new)
Article 17 – paragraph 2 – point d a (new)
(da) damage incurred as a result of an infringement
Amendment 186 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 17 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1 – point a
Article 17 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1 – point a
(a) fines which effectively deprive those responsible, in whole or in part, of the economic benefits derived from their infringements, and increasing the level of such fines for repeated infringements;
Amendment 187 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 17 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1 – point b
Article 17 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1 – point b