EU Ecolabel

The EU Ecolabel may be used only where it has been awarded

Direct answer. The EU Ecolabel, which the Commission’s product-group page calls the EU Ecolabel flower, may only be used on products that meet the EU Ecolabel criteria for their product group and for which it has been awarded. That limit is Regulation (EC) No 66/2010, Article 9. From 27 September 2026, Directive (EU) 2024/825 amends the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive so that displaying a sustainability label which is not based on a certification scheme or not established by public authorities is a prohibited practice, and it treats compliance with Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 as one way to show “recognised excellent environmental performance”. Article 9 quotes below are from the consolidated text 02010R0066 — EN — 14.11.2017 — 002.001. EUR-Lex states that a consolidation is a documentation tool and has no legal effect. This page does not reproduce the logo. It is not legal advice.

Green Claims Guard (Shopify App Store · Write a review): “Scan green marketing wording, review possible issues, and export dated evidence records for Shopify catalog and content review.” It does not award or verify labels.

Related: CLPLens — Hazard pictograms on the product page, not only the parcel.

Free check first: Green claim wording check runs in your browser and sends nothing.

Checklist before a flower mark goes on a product page

Article 9: the mark is only for products that comply with the applicable criteria and for which the EU Ecolabel has been awarded.
Article 9(1): an operator who wishes to use it applies to a competent body.
Article 10(1) prohibits a label or logo that leads to confusion with the EU Ecolabel.
Logo files, product-group criteria, and the product catalogue are on the Commission pages linked below. This page does not offer a download and does not show the mark.
A self-made “eco” badge is the practice in the new Annex I, point 2a, quoted below. The longer reading is the generic green-claims ban.

Regulation (EC) No 66/2010

The sentences in this section are from the consolidated English text 02010R0066 — EN — 14.11.2017 — 002.001, CELEX 02010R0066-20171114. The header of that consolidation says it is meant purely as a documentation tool and has no legal effect. The base act is Regulation (EC) No 66/2010.

Article 9(2): “The EU Ecolabel may only be used in connection with products complying with the EU Ecolabel criteria applicable to the products concerned and for which the EU Ecolabel has been awarded.”

Article 9(1), opening sentence: “Any operator who wishes to use the EU Ecolabel shall apply to the competent bodies referred to in Article 4 in accordance with the following rules:”

Article 10(1): “Any false or misleading advertising or use of any label or logo which leads to confusion with the EU Ecolabel shall be prohibited.”

Article 8(3) opens: “In the measures referred to in paragraph 2 the Commission shall:” Point (b): “specify, for each product group, three key environmental characteristics that may be displayed in the optional label with text box described in Annex II”. Annex II then says: “Optional label with text box (the possibility for the operator to use this text box and the text used shall be that specified in the relevant product group criteria):”

What changes on 27 September 2026

Directive (EU) 2024/825 inserts definitions into Article 2 of Directive 2005/29/EC. “Sustainability label” means “any voluntary trust mark, quality mark or equivalent, either public or private, that aims to set apart and promote a product, a process or a business by reference to its environmental or social characteristics, or both, and excludes any mandatory label required under Union or national law”.

“Certification scheme” means “a third-party verification scheme that certifies that a product, process or business complies with certain requirements, that allows for the use of a corresponding sustainability label, and the terms of which, including its requirements, are publicly available and meet the following criteria:” The criteria that follow that colon are not copied here.

“Recognised excellent environmental performance” means “environmental performance compliant with Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council or with national or regional EN ISO 14024 type I ecolabelling schemes officially recognised in the Member States, or top environmental performance in accordance with other applicable Union law”.

New Annex I, point 2a: “Displaying a sustainability label that is not based on a certification scheme or not established by public authorities.” Point 4a: “Making a generic environmental claim for which the trader is not able to demonstrate recognised excellent environmental performance relevant to the claim.”

Recital 7: “Examples of sustainability labels established by public authorities are logos awarded when complying with the requirements of Regulations (EC) No 1221/2009 or (EC) No 66/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council.” That sentence is an example in the recital. This page does not add a status for any other scheme.

Article 4(1) of Directive (EU) 2024/825: “They shall apply those measures from 27 September 2026.” The directive as a whole is the EmpCo summary.

A badge a shop draws for itself, and calls “eco”, is the kind of display Annex I, point 2a, names when the label is not based on a certification scheme and is not established by public authorities. Read that practice on the generic green-claims ban.

Where the Commission publishes the logo rules and the criteria

This page does not host the logo, a PNG, an SVG, or a guidelines file. The Commission pages below are the ones to use.

EU Ecolabel branding. The page says: “The logo guidelines (available in all EU languages) are intended for EU Ecolabel licence holders, national Competent Bodies, journalists, publishing houses and other relevant stakeholders.” It also says: “When using the EU Ecolabel logo in any form of publication, you commit to respecting the guidelines.” And: “It is prohibited to use the EU Ecolabel on products that do not comply with all the criteria, as per the criteria documents.”
Product groups and criteria. The page says: “EU Ecolabel criteria are established for different product groups and need to be met by the products to be awarded the label.” The same page calls the mark “the EU Ecolabel flower”.
EU Ecolabel Product Catalogue (ECAT). The catalogue page says: “Please note that it is the responsibility of licence holders to register their products in the EU Ecolabel Product Catalogue. This database may therefore be a non-exhaustive list.”

What this page is not

Not legal advice, and not an award or a verification of any label.
Not a download of the logo, and not a redrawing of it.
Not a status for any scheme other than the sentences quoted from Regulation (EC) No 66/2010 and from Directive (EU) 2024/825.
Not the carbon-neutral and offset reading. That page is carbon-neutral and offset claims.

Not legal advice. Confirm Regulation (EC) No 66/2010, including the current consolidated text, and Directive (EU) 2024/825 before you treat a logo as awarded or a sustainability label as allowed. The app scans wording you submit and exports evidence records. It does not award or verify a label.