Ahead of the next formal trilogue negotiations on the proposal for a Directive on Green Claims, taking place on 24 April 2025, the travel and tourism industry has been highlighting its priorities.
A coalition of travel and tourism organisations – ECTAA, EFCO&HPA, HOTREC, NECSTouR and RURALTOUR – has expressed its support for the European Commission’s intention “to strengthen consumer protection against greenwashing and false environmental claims.” However, it has issued five action points that it believes will reduce administrative burdens and costs, helping businesses and destinations to stay motivated on green issues.
Five key priorities on green claims
In response to the upcoming negotiations, the coalition has outlined five key priorities that it believes are essential to making the Directive both effective and practical for the hospitality sector.
- Simplification of substantiation and verification procedures
- Micro-enterprises must be exempted from the scope of the Directive
- Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and destinations should receive support for implementationPenalties must be proportionate
- New public and private schemes should be allowed
🌿 Ahead of the 24 April trilogue, HOTREC & partners call for a fair #GreenClaims Directive!
— HOTREC (@HOTREC_EUROPE) April 14, 2025
🔹Simplify rules
🔹Exempt micro-enterprises
🔹Support SMEs & DMOs
🔹Ensure proportionate penalties
🔹Allow new sustainability labels
📄 Read our position 👉 https://t.co/wn6CTCmccw
Problems with the current proposals, the coalition says, are that the requirement to provide life-cycle and recognised scientific claims is stopping businesses from being able to promote legitimate steps they are taking towards the green transition.
The association is calling for a list of explicit environmental claims that can be treated as fair to self-declare; toolkits and technical guidance “tailored to the tourism sector’s realities”; and recognition of existing environmental credentials held by companies to exempt them from having to provide more proofs.
As well as the other priorities laid out, the coalition says the adoption of number five, permitting new schemes to promote environmental action, will “lead to innovation” in the field.
Greenwashing versus greenhushing
With the Directive, the European Union is aiming to prevent greenwashing so that consumers can trust information about the environmental impact of products in future in order to choose more sustainable options and effectively contribute to protecting the planet.
The Directive’s supporters have raised questions over the way manufacturers label their products as “sustainable”, “recyclable” or “climate neutral” and advertise with claims such as “packaging made from 65% recycled materials”. The idea of the directive is to make companies responsible for substantiating such claims, after a 2020 EU study, that found most green marketing statements are vague, misleading or unfounded. The draft directive up for discussion on 24 April stipulates that companies must base voluntary environmental claims to consumers on scientific evidence.
The coalition’s concerns echo other studies that have found, for fear of being sanctioned, some companies are “green hushing” – in other words, staying quiet about potential environmental successes, to avoid being penalised under the Green Claims Directive.
