TIC Council welcomes the agreements reached in the second trilogue on the EU Green Claims Directive and wishes for a successful third trilogue.
As the main voice of the accredited independent third-party verifiers, we support the certainty that the co-legislators have given to traders, and the protection this agreement provides to consumers. The TIC industry has always advocated that ex-ante verification of all claims is the best way to ensure that consumers are protected from greenwashing practices. The agreement found in the last round of negotiations maintains this important safeguard for the Single Market.
The co-legislators have agreed that verification should take place within thirty days and might be extended, in duly justified cases, by another thirty days. In order for a claim to be verified within a specified timeframe, the trader needs to provide all the documentation needed to the verifier according to a specific timeline and process. The verification process therefore starts the moment the verifier receives all of the project documentation, can begin conducting the verification and its receipt has been formally acknowledged by the verifier. The TIC industry is an enabler of a safe and secure EU Single Market and of the competitiveness of its industries. If companies count on already certified processes, or data management in-house, they will be able to provide all the documentation in a shorter time, streamlining the whole process. We ask co-legislators and the European Commission to take these approaches into consideration in the last round of negotiations, when discussing the “simplified procedure”.
Equally, with regards to simplification, it should be noted that even simple claims are still susceptible to greenwashing practices in case independent third-party verification is not being used to verify and validate them. For instance, in case of false recycled content claims, the reported environmental impacts of the products may not be correct. TIC companies are already offering verification services for marketing claims and have the capacity in place to ensure that all traders have their claims substantiated and verified in time. This proposal comes as the result of a thorough impact assessment, published alongside the original draft Directive, aims to set a level playing field among market operators and is based on grounded policy initiatives and current market practices.
We hope co-legislators can reach a final agreement soon, so the EU Green Claims Directive can be a reality in the European market. This will be a global cornerstone for consumer protection. The TIC industry will be ready for this new reality.