EU greenwashing rules targeting misleading environmental claims came into effect on 27 September 2026, placing tighter restrictions on how companies describe the sustainability of their products and services. In Finland, the changes will require national legislation by 27 March 2027, giving businesses a six-month transition period to prepare for the new requirements.
Terms such as “environmentally friendly”, “green”, “climate friendly”, “low carbon” and “biodegradable” will face greater scrutiny when companies use them without evidence to support their claims. Businesses will also face restrictions on sustainability labels created for their own marketing if those labels lack recognised certification or approval from public authorities.
The measures form part of the European Union’s directive on empowering consumers for the green transition, which aims to give shoppers clearer information about the environmental and sustainability characteristics of products. The legislation seeks to address a long-standing problem in consumer marketing: environmental claims that sound convincing but offer little evidence that customers can independently assess.
A European Commission assessment published in 2021 found that around half of the environmental claims examined across the EU lacked supporting evidence. In more than half of the cases, businesses provided insufficient information for consumers to determine whether the claims were accurate. The findings helped establish the basis for stronger rules on environmental marketing and sustainability information.
Under the new framework, businesses cannot rely on vague environmental language as a substitute for substantiated claims. Sustainability labels must meet specific requirements if they are to qualify for continued use, with recognised certification schemes subject to conditions intended to strengthen transparency and independent oversight.
The rules also extend beyond environmental statements. In Finland, the implementation will address claims relating to working conditions, wages, workplace safety and respect for human rights. This broadens the scope of scrutiny from the environmental performance of products to wider social and ethical issues associated with how businesses operate and present themselves to consumers.
Certification schemes permitted under the legislation must make their criteria publicly available and transparent. Experts and relevant stakeholders must participate in developing those criteria, while an independent third party must monitor compliance. The requirements are designed to distinguish labels supported by defined standards and external monitoring from symbols that companies create and control themselves.
Established certification systems, including the Nordic Swan Ecolabel, the EU Ecolabel, organic certification and Fairtrade certification, are expected to continue under the new framework, provided they meet the applicable requirements. The legislation does not prohibit sustainability labels as a category. Instead, it establishes conditions intended to improve their credibility and the information available to consumers.
Finnish food and horticultural labels will also remain in use, according to the organisations responsible for them. These include the Produce of Finland label, known in Finnish as Hyvaa Suomesta, and the Sirkkalehtimerkki label.
The Produce of Finland label identifies food produced in Finland using Finnish raw materials according to the scheme’s criteria. Sirkkalehtimerkki is used to identify Finnish horticultural products. Both schemes operate with published criteria and monitoring arrangements, which their administrators say support their continued use under the new rules.
“The directive aims to ensure that consumers are able to trust claims presented on products and in marketing. At the same time, it emphasises the importance of labels backed by monitoring and clear rules,” Anni-Mari Syvaniemi, managing director of Finfood – Finnish Food Information, which manages the Produce of Finland label, said in a statement.
Finfood said that 93 per cent of Finns trust monitored Finnish origin labels, citing its own research. The organisation believes the new requirements will help consumers distinguish between independently monitored certification marks and company-created marketing symbols when making purchasing decisions.
For businesses operating in Finland, the transition period creates time to review environmental language, sustainability labels and other claims used in product packaging and advertising. The eventual application of the rules will depend on Finland’s national implementation, but the direction of the legislation is clear: environmental and social claims presented to consumers will face greater demands for evidence, transparency and accountability.
The changes reflect a wider EU effort to make sustainability information more reliable at the point of purchase. For consumers, the intended result is a market in which environmental and ethical claims are easier to assess, while companies relying on unsupported or misleading labels face tighter restrictions.
