The European cosmetics industry fully supports the objectives of the Green Claims Directive. Together with the proposal on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition, the new rules will be key to fight greenwashing practices and create a level playing field (and legal clarity) among traders. They would help to ensure consumers are provided with trustworthy, relevant, and transparent information about the sustainability of the products and services they choose.
The Green Claims Directive is specifically important for the cosmetics industry because cosmetic claims play a crucial role in differentiating cosmetic products from each other, stimulating innovation, and fostering competition.
Cosmetics Europe welcomes the European Parliament’s compromise proposal which empowers the European Commission to establish, through secondary legislation, simplified or shortened procedures and possibly include a presumption of conformity for certain environmental claims. We call for a clear timeline for the adoption of this secondary legislative act.
Cosmetics Europe fully supports the principle that environmental impact information on products should be clear, transparent, and comparable, hence based on a robust footprint methodology, and we believe that such information can help consumers make more sustainable choices. We also support the European Parliament’s decision to allow private labels to be used, if they provide added value to the consumer, and would ask for these private labels to be allowed until a dedicated EU law governing them is adopted.
Moreover, Cosmetics Europe welcomes the proposal to request the European Commission to publish a report on the use of explicit environmental claims on products or product groups containing substances or preparations/mixtures meeting the criteria for hazardous substances as defined in the CLP and REACH regulations. However, we believe that the defined timeline to publish the report is too short and would recommend a more realistic timeframe, i.e. at least 3 years after the entry into force of the Directive.
Cosmetics Europe will continue to engage in a constructive dialogue with policy makers to ensure a workable and efficient system for the consumers and the industry.
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Cosmetics Europe is the European trade association for the cosmetics and personal care industry. Our members include cosmetics and personal care manufacturers as well as associations representing our industry at national level, right across Europe.
Media questions
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