knowledge 9 April 2026 |

The European Union (Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition) Regulations 2026 - Key Implications for Businesses

The European Union (Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition) Regulations 2026 (SI No. 124 of 2026) (the “Regulations”) have been published which seek to give effect to Directive (EU) 2024/825 of 28 February 2024 as regards empowering consumers for the green transition through better protection against unfair practices and through better information (the “Green Transition Directive”).  Made on 27 March 2026 (the last day for transposition of the Green Transition Directive), and in line with the requirements of the Green Transition Directive, the Regulations will come into operation on 27 September 2026.  Businesses therefore have less than 6 months to implement the necessary changes to ensure compliance with the Regulations. 

The key features of the Regulations

Currently the Consumer Protection Act 2007 (the “2007 Act”) prohibits ‘misleading commercial practices’.  The Regulations extends the scope of what is to be considered a misleading commercial practice including:

• if it includes the provision of false information in relation to a product’s environmental or social characteristics or its circularity aspects, such as durability, reparability or recyclability, or
• if it involves the making of an “environmental claim” related to future environmental performance without clear, objective, publicly available and verifiable commitments set out in a detailed and realistic implementation plan, or
• if it involves the advertising of benefits to consumers that are irrelevant and do not result from any feature of the product or business

and that information, environmental claim or advertising (as the case may be) would be likely to cause the average consumer to make a transactional decision that the average consumer would not otherwise make.

The Regulations also amend the 2007 Act to set out material information consumers need for informed decisions when traders offer services comparing products on environmental, social, or circularity aspects like durability, reparability, or recyclability.  If traders conceal or omit this information, and such practice would be likely to cause the average consumer to make a transactional decision that the average consumer would not otherwise make, it constitutes a misleading commercial practice and is an offence under the 2007 Act.  

The 2007 Act also lists ‘prohibited commercial practices’, the list of which is expanded by the Regulations.  Once the Regulations become operational the following, for example, will constitute prohibited commercial practices:  

• Making a generic environmental claim, where the trader is not able to demonstrate recognised excellent environmental performance relevant to that claim.
• Making an environmental claim relating to an entire product or the trader’s entire business, where the claim concerns only a certain aspect of that product or a specific activity of the trader’s business.
• Making a claim based on the offsetting of greenhouse gas emissions that a product has a neutral reduced or positive impact on the environment in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.
• Displaying a sustainability label that is not based on a certification scheme or not established by a public body.
• Presenting requirements imposed by any enactment or otherwise imposed by law on all products within the relevant product category on the European Union market as a distinctive feature of the trader’s offer.
• Making false claims or omitting information on the durability of goods, including false claims on the functionality and repairability of goods. For digital goods, withholding information on the functionality of software updates or falsely presenting them to be necessary is also prohibited.

A number of amendments have also been made to the Consumer Rights Act 2022 to seek to give effect to the provisions of the Green Transition Directive in relation to harmonised notices and harmonised labels. 

All EU products have a minimum 2-year guarantee of conformity under the EU Sales of Goods Directive (EU 2019/771).  Under the Regulations, harmonised notices will be at points of sale both online and offline reminding consumers of their existing right to an EU-wide 2-year legal guarantee of conformity whereby they can request of a trader the repair, replacement or refund of a product that does not conform to the contract.  Harmonised notices are also to contain a general reference to the possibility that, under section 11(1) of the Statute of Limitations 1957 the duration of this legal obligation is for a period exceeding 2 years.

Under the Regulations harmonised labels are to be used where a producer offers the consumer a commercial guarantee of durability, at no additional cost, covering the entire good, for a period exceeding two years.

Our 3 Key Takeaways

-          The Regulations explicitly prohibit the use of generic environmental claims if the trader cannot demonstrate recognised excellent environmental performance.  Examples of such generic environmental claims include for example “green” or “eco-friendly”.  Unless your product meets a high standard of excellence such as achieving the EU Ecolabel or an equivalent ISO 14024 Type I ecolabel, you cannot use these terms. 

-          The Regulations prohibit claims that a product has a neutral, reduced, or positive impact on the environment with respect to greenhouse gas emissions when those claims rely on carbon offsetting.  While businesses can continue to discuss climate efforts taken by the business, the focus must be on actual reductions within a business’ own supply chain, and not through the purchase of credits to offset impacts.

-          The use of a sustainability label must be verified by a third party, such as a certification scheme or verification established by a public body, that certifies that the product, process or business complies with certain requirements that allows for the use of that corresponding sustainability label.  Any unverified sustainability label will need to be removed.

Any product on the shelf or available online to EU consumers after the operational date of 27 September 2026 must comply with the new rules contained in the Regulations.  Non-compliance risks prosecution, and litigation exposure, particularly in view of the fact that Part 3 of the 2007 Act, which Part the Regulations amend, is within the scope of the Representative Actions for the Protection of the Collective Interests of Consumers Act 2023, and therefore non-compliance is susceptible to the risk of representative action by a qualified entity.  

Also contributed to by Adam Crothers