Green Claims Directive status
COM(2023) 166 is a proposal; Directive (EU) 2024/825 is the adopted EmpCo act
Direct answer. COM(2023) 166 is a Commission proposal for a Green Claims Directive on substantiation and communication of explicit environmental claims. It is not an adopted directive. The Commission’s Green claims page still describes a legislative proposal and lists its status as pending. Procedure 2023/0085(COD) on EUR-Lex is the official file. Contrast that with adopted Directive (EU) 2024/825, whose Article 4 tells Member States to apply the national measures from 27 September 2026 — verify that date on the live EUR-Lex text. Procedure status can change; this page is not legal advice.
Green Claims Guard (Shopify App Store · Write a review) scans green marketing wording in your catalog and content, flags green-claim wording and names the exact provision it cites, and exports dated evidence records for review. It does not decide whether a claim is lawful. This page is the proposal-versus-adopted-act status reading aid — not a wording scan of your catalog.
Related: CLPLens — Hazard pictograms on the product page, not only the parcel.
Free check first: Green claim wording self-check runs in your browser and sends nothing. Paste product copy and see which environmental wording to review.
Checklist: what official EU sources actually say
- Open COM(2023) 166 on EUR-Lex and confirm it is still labelled a proposal, not an adopted directive.
- Open procedure 2023/0085(COD) and the Commission Green claims page and read the status words they use today (the Commission page last described the file as pending).
- Do not treat COM(2023) 166 as in-force labelling law, and do not invent an application date for it.
- For already-adopted generic-claim and related UCPD changes, read Directive (EU) 2024/825 on EUR-Lex, including Article 4.
- If those official pages later show adoption, withdrawal, or a new number, follow that record — not this snapshot.
COM(2023) 166 remains a proposal
EUR-Lex publishes COM(2023) 166 as “Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on substantiation and communication of explicit environmental claims (Green Claims Directive).” The Commission environment publications page dates the proposal 22 March 2023. The Green claims topic page calls it a legislative proposal, says the EU has proposed action on greenwashing, and lists “Status: Pending.” The European Parliament adopted a first-reading position on 12 March 2024 (EUR-Lex document P9_TA(2024)0131). A first-reading position is not adoption of the directive. This page does not claim the proposal has been withdrawn or enacted, because those outcomes would appear on EUR-Lex or in the Official Journal.
Contrast: adopted Directive (EU) 2024/825
Directive (EU) 2024/825 (Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition) is an adopted act that amends Directives 2005/29/EC and 2011/83/EU. It is a different instrument from COM(2023) 166. Article 4 of the EUR-Lex text says Member States shall adopt and publish the measures necessary to comply by 27 March 2026 and shall apply those measures from 27 September 2026. Confirm both dates on the live Directive (EU) 2024/825 page; corrigenda may exist. The generic environmental-claim job under that adopted directive is walked on EU generic green claims ban.
What this page is not
- Not legal advice, and not a claim that COM(2023) 166 already applies to product copy.
- Not a substitute for the EUR-Lex procedure record or the Commission status line.
- Not the 2024/825 generic-wording walkthrough. That URL is EU bans generic green claims on product copy.
Related pages
- Green claim wording self-check — paste copy and see which phrases to review
- EU generic green claims ban — adopted Directive (EU) 2024/825, not the proposal
- EmpCo directive summary — Directive (EU) 2024/825 and the UCPD blacklist
- UK Green Claims Code — CMA principles, not COM(2023) 166
- Green Claims Guard — live App Store listing
- COM(2023) 166 on EUR-Lex
- Commission Green claims page
- Directive (EU) 2024/825
- Shopify apps hub
- Tools
Not legal advice. Confirm COM(2023) 166, procedure 2023/0085(COD), and Directive (EU) 2024/825 on official EU pages before you treat either file as in or out of force. The app flags wording; it does not decide lawfulness.