Activities of Emmanouil FRAGKOS related to 2023/0085(COD)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Substantiation and communication of explicit environmental claims (Green Claims Directive)
Amendments (20)
Amendment 15 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 8
Recital 8
(8) The specific needs of individual economic sectors should be recognised and this Directive should therefore apply to voluntary explicit environmental claims and environmental labelling schemes that are not regulated by any other Union act as regards their substantiation or communication, or verification. This Directive should therefore not apply to explicit environmental claims for which the Union legislation lays down specific rules, including on methodological frameworks, assessment or accounting rules related to measuring and calculating the overall environmental footprint, the environmental impacts, environmental aspects or environmental performance of products or traders, or providing mandatory and non- mandatory information to consumers on the environmental performance of products and traders or sustainability information involving messages or representations that may be either mandatory or voluntary pursuant to the Union rules.
Amendment 71 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 2 – point p
Article 1 – paragraph 2 – point p
(p) other existing or future Union rules setting out the conditions under which certain explicit environmental claims about certain products or traders may be or are to be made or Union rules laying down requirements on the assessment or communication of the overall environmental footprint, of environmental impacts, environmental aspects or environmental performance of certain products or traders or conditions for environmental labelling schemes.
Amendment 91 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point c
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point c
(c) demonstrate that environmental impacts, environmental aspects or environmental performance that are subject to the claim are significant from a product, service, activity, organisation and business life- cycle perspective;
Amendment 94 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point d
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point d
(d) where a claim is made on environmental performance, take into account all environmental aspects or environmental impacts which are significant to assessing the environmental performance, based on an overall assessment carried out throughout the life cycle (‘environmental footprint’);
Amendment 103 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point g
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point g
(g) identify whether improving the overall environmental footprint, the environmental impacts, environmental aspects or environmental performance subject to the claim leads to significant harm in relation to environmental impacts on climate change, resource consumption and circularity, sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources, pollutionlakes and oceans, air, water and soil pollution, sustainable land use, biodiversity, animal welfare and ecosystems;
Amendment 112 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 4 – point a
Article 3 – paragraph 4 – point a
(a) determining the rules for assessing the overall environmental footprint, the environmental aspects, environmental impacts and environmental performance, including by determining the activities, processes, materials, emissions or use of a product, which contribute significantly or cannot contribute to the relevant environmental impacts, environmental aspects or environmental performance;
Amendment 117 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – introductory part
1. The substantiation of explicit environmental claims that state or imply that a product or trader has less environmental impacts or a better environmental performance, or a smaller overall environmental footprint than other products or traders (‘comparative environmental claims’) shall, in addition to the requirements set out in Article 3, comply with the following requirements:
Amendment 118 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point a
(a) the information and data used for assessing the environmental impacts, environmental aspects or environmental performance of the products or traders against which the comparison is made, are equivalent to the information and data used for assessing the overall environmental footprint, the environmental impacts, environmental aspects or environmental performance of the product or trader which is subject to the claim;
Amendment 119 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point b
(b) the data used for assessing the overall environmental footprint, the environmental impacts, environmental aspects or environmental performance of the products or traders is generated or sourced in an equivalent manner as the data used for assessing the environmental impacts, environmental aspects or environmental performance of the products or traders against which the comparison is made;
Amendment 120 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point d
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point d
(d) the coverage of the overall environmental footprint, environmental impacts, environmental aspects or environmental performances is equivalent for the products and traders compared and ensures that the most significant environmental impacts, environmental aspects or environmental performances are taken into account for all products and traders;
Amendment 136 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 6 – subparagraph 2 – point c
Article 5 – paragraph 6 – subparagraph 2 – point c
(c) the underlying studies or calculations used to assess, measure and monitor the overall environmental footprint, the environmental impacts, environmental aspects or environmental performance covered by the claim, without omitting the results of such studies or calculations and, explanations of their scope, assumptions and limitations, unless the information is a trade secret in line with Article 2 paragraph 1 of Directive (EU) 2016/943112 ; __________________ 112 Directive (EU) 2016/943 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2016 on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) against their unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure (OJ L 157, 15.6.2016, p. 1).
Amendment 139 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 6 – subparagraph 2 – point f a (new)
Article 5 – paragraph 6 – subparagraph 2 – point f a (new)
(fa) g. information on carbon removal certificates and the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), that is in line with the rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and able to certify reliable claims
Amendment 140 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 6 – paragraph 1
Article 6 – paragraph 1
Comparative environmental claims shall not relate to an improvement of the overall environmental footprint, the environmental impacts, environmental aspects or environmental performance of the product that is the subject of the claim compared to the environmental impacts, environmental aspects or environmental performance of another product from the same trader or from a competing trader that is no longer active on the market or from a trader that no longer sells to consumers, unless they are based on evidence proving that the improvement is significant and achieved in the last five years.
Amendment 150 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 4
Article 8 – paragraph 4
4. From [OP: Please insert the date = the date of transposition of this Directive] any new environmental labelling schemes established by public authorities in third countries awarding environmental labels to be used on the Union market, shall be subject to approval by the Commission prior to entering the Union market with the aim of ensuring that these labels provide added value in terms of their environmental ambition including notably their coverage of the overall environmental footprint, the environmental impacts, environmental aspects or environmental performance, or of a certain product group or sector, as compared to the existing Union, national or regional schemes referred to in paragraph 3, and meet the requirements of this Directive. Environmental labelling schemes established by public authorities in third countries prior to that date may continue to award the environmental labels which are to be used on the Union market, provided they meet the requirements of this Directive.
Amendment 151 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1
Article 8 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 1
Member States shall ensure that environmental labelling schemes established by private operators after [OP: Please insert the date = the date of transposition of this Directive] are only approved if those schemes provide added value in terms of their environmental ambition, including notably their extent of coverage of the overall environmental footprint, the environmental impacts, environmental aspects or environmental performance, or of a certain product group or sector and their ability to support the green transition of SMEs, as compared to the existing Union, national or regional schemes referred to in paragraph 3, and meet the requirements of this Directive.
Amendment 174 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 12 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 12 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Most small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) do not have the expertise or the resources needed to deal with applications for information relating to environmental performance throughout a product's lifecycle and the overall environmental footprint. Member States and industry association should therefore provide continuous support to SMEs.
Amendment 184 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 17 – paragraph 2 – point c
Article 17 – paragraph 2 – point c
(c) the financial strength of the natural or legal person held responsible, as indicated for example by the total turnover of the legal person held responsible or the annual income of the natural person held responsible, taking also into account the inability to adapt, particularly for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), agricultural cooperatives and small farms that lack the expertise and resources needed to deal with applications for information relating to environmental performance throughout a product's lifecycle and the overall environmental footprint;
Amendment 190 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 17 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1 – point c
Article 17 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1 – point c
(c) temporary exclusion for a maximum period of 12 months from public procurement processes and for a maximum period of 36 months from public procurement processes in the case of a Green Public Procurement (GPP) process as defined in COM/2008/0400 and from access to public funding, including tendering procedures, grants and concessions.
Amendment 193 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 21 – paragraph 2 – point e
Article 21 – paragraph 2 – point e
(e) strengthening the functioning of the internal market, developing tailored approaches for each sector and category of product, activity and service in accordance with the requirements of environmental footprint methods, bearing in mind the need to deal with the specific characteristics of complex products, flexible supply chains and dynamic markets.
Amendment 195 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 21 – paragraph 3 – point a
Article 21 – paragraph 3 – point a
(a) unlocking opportunities for the circular, bio and green economy by assessing the appropriateness and feasibility of mandating the use of common, and where relevant life-cycle based, method for substantiation of environmental claims, including the overall environmental footprint;