ENVIRONMENT
EU increases efforts to fight greenwashing through new rules
The Commission has proposed common criteria against greenwashing and misleading environmental claims. Under the new proposal, consumers will have more clarity, stronger reassurance that when something is sold as green, it actually is green, and better quality information to choose environment-friendly products and services.
Businesses will also benefit, as those that make a genuine effort to improve the environmental sustainability of their products will be more easily recognised and rewarded by consumers and able to boost their sales – rather than face unfair competition. This way, the proposal will help establish a level playing field when it comes to information about environmental performance of products.
A Commission study from 2020 highlighted that 53.3% of examined environmental claims in the EU were found to be vague, misleading or unfounded and 40% were unsubstantiated. The absence of common rules for companies making voluntary green claims leads to ‘greenwashing’ and creates an uneven playing field in the EU’s market, to the disadvantage of genuinely sustainable companies.
CONSUMER AFFAIRS
New rules promoting repair of goods launched
The European Commission adopted a new proposal on common rules promoting the repair of goods, which will result in savings for consumers and support the objectives of the European Green Deal by reducing waste, among others. Over the last decades, replacement has often been prioritised over repair whenever products become defective and insufficient incentives have been given to consumers to repair their goods when the legal guarantee expires. The proposal will make it easier and more cost-effective for consumers to repair as opposed to replace goods. Additionally, more demand will translate into a boost to the repair sector while incentivising producers and sellers to develop more sustainable business models.
According to the EU executive, the proposal will ensure that more products are repaired within the legal guarantee, and that consumers have easier and cheaper options to repair products that are technically repairable (such as vacuum cleaners, or soon, tablets and smartphones) when the legal guarantee has expired or when the good is not functional anymore as a result of wear and tear.
DIPLOMACY
EU commits of €7 bn for rebuilding of Turkey and Syria after quakes
A total of €7 billion were pledged by the international community at the ‘Together for the people of Türkiye and Syria’ International Donors’ Conference, co-hosted by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and by the Prime Minister of Sweden, Ulf Kristersson, for the Swedish Presidency of the Council.
More than 60 delegations from the European Union, its Member States and partners, including the UN, international and European financial institutions such as the EIB and the EBRD, and other relevant stakeholders met in Brussels to mobilise support for the people in Türkiye and Syria after the devastating earthquakes of February 2023 and to coordinate the response in the affected areas in both countries.
COMPETITION
Commission announces Guidelines on exclusionary abuses and amends Guidance on enforcement priorities
The European Commission has launched a Call for Evidence seeking feedback on the adoption of Guidelines on exclusionary abuses of dominance. In parallel, it has published a Communication amending its 2008 Guidance on enforcement priorities concerning exclusionary abuses. This package is being considered as the first major policy initiative in the area of abuse of dominance rules since 2008.
The new guidelines seeks to ensure that abuse of dominance rules are clear, effective and applied vigorously to the benefit of European consumers and the economy at large. The Commission plans to publish a draft of the Guidelines for public consultation by mid-2024, so as to adopt them in 2025.
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