After a long wait, Belgium has adopted the act transposing the EU Directive on Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition (the "EmpCo Directive") into national law. It prohibits certain practices related to environmental claims and expands information obligations towards consumers.
The aim of the EmpCo Directive
The EmpCo Directive pursues two goals: (1) tackling unfair commercial practices that mislead consumers, such as greenwashing, and (2) enabling consumers to make more sustainable consumption choices. Importantly, the Directive is not a wholly new piece of legislation: it amends two existing instruments,
- Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair commercial practices (i) by adding environmental and social characteristics and circularity aspects to the factors relevant when assessing, case by case, whether a practice is misleading, and (ii) by adding a series of specific practices to the "blacklist" (i.e. practices considered unfair in all circumstances); and
- Directive 2011/83/EU on consumer rights by introducing new pre-contractual information duties, so that consumers receive clearer, more standardised information before they conclude a contract.
Both points are discussed below.
Belgium has now (after 2.5 years) transposed the Directive by way of the act of 22 July 2026, which amends Book I (definitions), Book VI (market practices and consumer protection) and Book XV (enforcement) of the Code of Economic Law.
Update of the blacklist with unfair commercial practices
The blacklist of practices considered unfair in all circumstances is extended. These new practices can be divided into two categories.
First, there are several new environmental-claims prohibitions. It is now always unlawful
- to display a sustainability label not based on a certification scheme or not established by public authorities (labels established by public authorities, such as the EU Ecolabel, remain permitted);
- to make a generic environmental claim (e.g. statements such as "eco-friendly", "green" or "climate friendly") without demonstrating recognised excellent environmental performance relevant to the claim;
- to present an environmental claim about a whole product or business when it in fact relates only to a specific aspect (for example, marketing a product as "made with recycled material" when only its packaging is);
- to claim a neutral, reduced or positive greenhouse gas impact based on offsetting (such as "climate neutral", "CO2 neutral certified" or "carbon positive" claims based on offsetting rather than the product's actual lifecycle impact); or
- to present legally required features common to a product category as a distinctive feature of your own offer (for example, advertising that a product does not contain a substance that is already banned by law for that entire product category).
Second, the blacklist now also includes new prohibitions relating to software updates, durability and repairability. It is now always unlawful
- to withhold information that a software update will negatively affect a good's functioning (e.g. degraded battery life);
- to present an update as necessary when it only improves functionality;
- to communicate about a good with a feature introduced to limit its durability where the undertaking is aware of this (e.g. software or hardware designed to fail after a set period);
- to falsely claim a certain durability;
- to present a good as repairable when it is not;
- to induce early replacement of consumables (e.g. prompting early ink cartridge replacement); or
- to make misleading claims about the effect of third-party consumables, spare parts or accessories.
New precontractual obligations
Alongside the aforementioned prohibitions, the pre-contractual information to be provided to consumers is expanded. Undertakings must now also
- indicate a good's repairability score (where applicable);
- provide the minimum period during which software updates will be provided for goods with digital elements, digital content or digital services (where the producer makes the information available to the trader); and
- use (i) the harmonised notice reminding consumers of the two-year legal conformity guarantee, and, where applicable, (ii) the harmonised label for the commercial durability guarantee. This notice/label must be used both offline (e.g. on packaging or in-store) and online, in the exact form and content set out in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1960.
Who this affects
The new rules apply to any undertaking engaging in business-to-consumer commercial practices in Belgium, regardless of sector, as they amend the general unfair commercial practices and consumer rights framework. In practice, the rules are most relevant to undertakings that make environmental or sustainability claims, use or wish to use sustainability labels, sell goods with digital elements or digital content and services, offer commercial durability guarantees or repair-related information to consumers, or operate product comparison services.
Timeline for compliance
The act enters into force on 27 September 2026. Undertakings should aim to be compliant by that date. A limited transitional measure does provide some breathing room: enforcement of the new bans on unsubstantiated future environmental claims and on the new blacklist practices relating to environmental claims and durability is suspended for six months from that date, for goods produced, packaged or placed on the market before 27 September 2026. Beyond that transitional window, and for all other new rules from the outset, infringements remain subject to the general enforcement and sanctioning regime of Book XV of the Code of Economic Law.
Conclusion
The transposition of the EmpCo Directive reinforces the existing framework for unfair commercial practices and consumer information in Belgium, rather than replacing it. The practical effect for undertakings might however be significant. With the act entering into force on 27 September 2026, undertakings have limited time to review their environmental claims, labels, comparison tools, product design and pre-contractual disclosures to ensure compliance.
Authors:
- Jan Clinck, Counsel at ALTIUS
