Directive (EU) 2024/825 on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition (ECGT)
Strengthens consumer protection against greenwashing and introduces new mandatory pre-contractual information on the durability, reparability and guarantees of goods.
This page is a quick-reference summary. For the full legal analysis and detailed source verification, read the complete note: Full analysis: Directive (EU) 2024/825 →
What changes
The Directive amends Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair commercial practices and Directive 2011/83/EU on consumer rights. It introduces new rules on environmental claims, sustainability labels, future environmental commitments, product comparisons, premature obsolescence, software updates, reparability and guarantees.
It does not provide an exhaustive regulation of all environmental claims and does not replace applicable sector-specific rules; its application must be coordinated with Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 (ecodesign) and Directive (EU) 2024/1799 (repair of goods), among others.
Who it affects
It applies to commercial practices directed at consumers (B2C relationships), with a horizontal reach across sectors. The analysis must be carried out by reference to the specific commercial practice, the product or service concerned, the average consumer and the applicable sector-specific rules. Information obligations and prohibitions on unfair practices should not be confused with the corporate reporting obligations under Directive (EU) 2022/2464 (CSRD), although corporate communications reused as commercial communications directed at consumers can fall under this Directive.
Key obligations
- Claims about future environmental performance are only permitted when backed by clear, objective and verifiable commitments, measurable targets, a detailed and realistic implementation plan and periodic verification by an independent expert third party.
- A blanket ban, in any circumstance (Annex I of Directive 2005/29/EC), on sustainability labels not based on a certification scheme, unsubstantiated generic environmental claims and claims of emissions neutrality based solely on offsetting.
- A harmonised notice on the legal guarantee of conformity (minimum two years) in every consumer contract.
- The GARAN harmonised label whenever the producer offers, at no extra cost, a commercial durability guarantee of more than two years (Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1960).
- Information on reparability (where an applicable repair index exists) and on the update period for goods with digital elements.
Relevant deadlines
| Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 28.02.2024 | Adoption of the Directive. |
| 26.03.2024 | Entry into force (twentieth day following its publication). |
| 27.09.2025 | Deadline for the Commission to specify the design of the harmonised notice and label. |
| 27.03.2026 | Deadline for Member States to transpose the Directive into national law. |
| 27.09.2026 | Effective application of the transposition measures; Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1960 (GARAN label) becomes applicable. |
| 27.09.2031 | Deadline for the Commission's evaluation report. |
Relationship to other frameworks
It works as a horizontal consumer protection framework that must be applied together with Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 (ecodesign for sustainable products), Directive (EU) 2024/1799 (repair of goods) and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1960 (GARAN label). It stands apart from Directive (EU) 2022/2464 (CSRD), whose corporate reporting obligations operate on a different plane, except when corporate communications are reused as commercial communications directed at consumers.