New requirements regarding the use of environmental claims in marketing and the right to claim repairs for certain types of goods

Two new EU directives aimed at promoting more sustainable consumption will soon be implemented into Swedish law. Some of the rules should already have come into force, whilst others were due to come into force by 27 September 2026. However, work on the Swedish implementation has been delayed. The Swedish rules will therefore not come into force until 1 January 2027 at the earliest. However, some of the rules in one of the directives arguably apply regardless of the Swedish implementation. It is therefore high time for all affected businesses to ensure that their operations and marketing comply with the new requirements.

Questions regarding how environmental and sustainability aspects may be used in marketing have been the subject of attention for a long time. Even the current legislation contains restrictions on the right to use environmental claims in marketing. However, the EmpCo Directive (EU/2024/825) further restricts these requirements. The EmpCo Directive also sets out new requirements regarding which sustainability labels may be referred to in marketing. Several environmental marketing practices have also been added to the so-called ‘blacklist’, which specifies which marketing practices that are always considered unfair. Under the proposed new Swedish rules, the blacklist will apply solely to marketing directed at consumers.
Under the Right to Repair Directive (EU/2024/1799), rules are also to be introduced to simplify and facilitate the repair of goods as a preferred alternative to purchasing new ones.

Below are a number of examples of what the new rules entail.

• It will be prohibited to display sustainability labels that are not based on a certification scheme or that have not been established by public authorities.
  
• It will be prohibited to make general, unspecified environmental claims, such as ‘environmentally friendly’, ‘green’ and ‘organic’ that are not part of an accepted sustainability label, unless one can demonstrate ‘recognised excellent environmental performance’, meaning that the claimed environmental benefit meets the requirements of certain specific rules on environmental performance or certain specific eco-labelling schemes, such as the Nordic Swan and the EU Ecolabel (the EU flower) within the EU.
  
• It will be prohibited to make environmental claims that refer to future environmental targets, such as ‘net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 at the latest’, if such a vision is not based on clear, objective, publicly available and verifiable commitments that have been documented in a detailed and realistic implementation plan containing measurable and time-bound targets and other relevant and necessary elements to support its implementation, and which are regularly verified by an independent expert whose conclusions are made available to consumers.
  
• It will be prohibited to claim that a product has a neutral, reduced or positive environmental impact in terms of greenhouse gas emissions if the claim is based on greenhouse gas emissions offsetting, that is, where the trader has purchased emission allowances or otherwise paid to reduce greenhouse gas emissions elsewhere in order to offset their own emissions.
  
• It will be prohibited to market irrelevant benefits that are not linked to the characteristics of the product or the company, such as ‘gluten-free water’ or ‘plastic-free sheets of paper’.
  
• For certain types of goods, such as washing machines, dishwashers, mobile phones, tablets and batteries for light vehicles (the intention is to expand the list of goods in the future), consumers are given the right, for a certain period after a purchase, to request that a trader repair the goods, in return for reasonable compensation. Consumers must also be informed about such repair services and about guide prices for typical repairs.
  
• Misleading claims that a product can be repaired, or which are intended to persuade the consumer to replace consumables earlier than necessary, will be prohibited.