This article focuses
on appraising recent legislative efforts by the European Union (EU) to combat
commercial practices that serve to mislead consumers about the environmental
attributes and impacts of products, namely the practice of greenwashing.
Notably, the Union has sought to bring in two legislative measures intended to
reduce and minimize the influence and presence of deceptive commercial conduct
regarding environmental product claims continuing to be a significant factor in
the EU internal market place, specifically the 2024 Empowering of Consumers
Directive (Directive 2024/824) and the prospective Green Claims Directive. Yet,
there remain a number of outstanding challenges for the EU to address in
relation to tackling the problem of greenwashing and ensuring that EU consumer
law becomes more closely aligned to and integrated within the legal and
political architecture of EU environmental protection policy.