Breng uw duurzaamheidsclaims ook in lijn met nieuwe Europese regels
AI Analysis
AFM has reminded financial undertakings that the Dutch implementation of Directive (EU) 2024/825, the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition (ECGT or EmpCo) Directive, applies to consumer-facing sustainability claims and marketing, in addition to sectoral requirements under the Wft, SFDR, MiFID II and IDD. The rules prohibit specified greenwashing practices, including unsupported generic environmental claims, certain compensation-based climate-neutrality claims and unverified sustainability labels; independent commentary also highlights that existing claims and financial-services marketing fall within the broad cross-sector regime.
Key dates
- 2024-02-28
- Directive (EU) 2024/825 was adopted, amending the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and the Consumer Rights Directive.
- 2026-03-27 Deadline
- EU Member States were required to adopt and publish national transposition measures.
- 2026-06-24
- The Dutch Implementatiewet richtlijn betere duurzaamheidsinformatie voor consumenten was published in the Staatsblad, according to the AFM publication.
- 2026-07-16
- The Dutch implementation legislation entered into force, according to the AFM publication.
- 2026-09-27
- The ECGT rules became applicable to consumer-facing commercial communications across the EU, including relevant financial-services marketing; the regime is applicable as at the publication date of 2026-10-09.
Suggested considerations
- Compliance teams may wish to inventory all consumer-facing sustainability claims, labels and environmental references used in websites, fund marketing, advertisements, product names, brochures, social media, sales scripts and corporate marketing.
- Firms should consider mapping each claim to the specific product, service, activity or business component to avoid implying whole-product or whole-enterprise sustainability where the evidence covers only part of the offering.
- Firms should consider maintaining an evidence file for every material claim, including the scope of the claim, methodology, data sources, verification, assumptions, limitations and approval owner.
- Marketing and product-governance reviews may wish to identify generic terms such as green, sustainable, environmentally friendly, climate positive and eco-friendly and confirm whether the required recognised excellent environmental performance can be demonstrated.
- Firms should consider removing or rewriting claims that describe products or services as climate neutral, carbon neutral or having reduced climate impact where the claim depends solely or materially on offsetting emissions, and should distinguish mitigation from compensation.
- Compliance teams may wish to review all sustainability labels, badges and proprietary ESG marks and confirm that each is supported by an eligible certification scheme or public scheme with appropriate independent verification.
- Firms communicating net-zero, climate-neutrality or other future environmental objectives should consider documenting a detailed and realistic implementation plan with measurable interim targets, deadlines, governance, monitoring and evidence of progress.
- Firms should consider testing claims against both the ECGT/BW 6 requirements and applicable Wft, SFDR, MiFID II, IDD and other sectoral disclosure and conduct standards, because satisfying a sectoral disclosure rule does not cure a claim prohibited under the consumer-law framework.
What changed
The Dutch Implementatiewet richtlijn betere duurzaamheidsinformatie voor consumenten amended Book 6 of the Dutch Civil Code, including the rules on unfair commercial practices in Articles 6:193a et seq., to implement Directive (EU) 2024/825, which amends Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair commercial practices and Directive 2011/83/EU on consumer rights. For consumer-facing commercial communications, sustainability claims should be specific, accurate, verifiable and supported by appropriate evidence. Generic terms such as duurzaam, groen, milieuvriendelijk, eco-friendly or comparable terms may be used only where the product or service demonstrates a recognised excellent environmental performance, generally through the EU Ecolabel or an officially recognised national or regional ecolabel. It is
Compliance impact
The impact is high for firms using sustainability language in retail marketing because prohibited practices are unlawful irrespective of whether a specific Wft rule addresses the claim. AFM describes enforcement as already possible, while independent commentary from PwC, Dirkzwager, Holla, Arthur Cox and Grant Thornton confirms a broad cross-sector scope, heightened substantiation expectations and
Who is affected
Related regulations
References
AI-generated analysis. May contain errors or omissions — verify with the original AFM source before acting. Full disclaimer.
What the AFM said
Sinds juli 2026 is de Europese richtlijn Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition (ECGT) van kracht. Deze richtlijn stelt specifiekere eisen aan duurzaamheidsclaims, inclusief concrete verboden. De regels gelden ook voor financiële ondernemingen, naast de informatieverstrekkingsnormen vanuit de Wet op het…
Extract from AFM . Read the full notice at the source for the authoritative text.