4.1.1.7. Comparative environmental claims

Environmental claims may suggest that a product has a more positive impact on the environment or is less damaging to the environment than competing goods or services, or previous versions of their own goods or services. Products bearing such comparative claims should be assessed against similar products (or, where appropriate, against a previous version of the same product) and the same assessment method has to be applied in a consistent manner to allow for such a comparison. National enforcement authorities and self-regulatory bodies usually interpret this principle to mean that comparisons should refer to products within the same product category. However, it would seem equally important that the method used to produce the environmental claim is the same, that it is applied in a consistent manner (i.e. the same methodological choices and rules are applied, results are reproducible), and that the method applied allows comparisons, otherwise any comparison becomes misleading (318). For example, depending on the products in question, comparative environmental claims are likely to be misleading if they exclude factors, such as transportation in particular where such factors contribute the most towards a product’s environmental footprint. Directive 2006/114/EC on misleading and comparative advertising, which covers business-to-business relations, lays down the conditions under which comparative advertising is permitted. These conditions are also relevant for assessing whether comparative advertising is lawful in business-to-consumer relations in the UCPD context. Comparisons of the environmental benefits of products should, among other things: not be misleading within the meaning of Articles 6 and 7 of the UCPD; compare goods or services meeting the same needs or intended for the same purpose; objectively compare one or more material, relevant, verifiable and representative features of those goods and services.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-25 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.