EU ECOLABEL

The EU Ecolabel is the official voluntary label for environmental excellence of the European Union. Established in 199, the label is awarded to products (goods and services) meeting high environmental standards through their entire lifecycle. In the context of the European Green Deal, the Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) and the New Consumer Agenda, as well as the Green Claims Directive, the EU Ecolabel is a reliable tool for empowering consumers and public buyers to make informed choices and for promoting sustainable production and consumption. In line with the Zero Pollution Action Plan, the EU Ecolabel guarantees that EU Ecolabel products have a minimised impact on water, air, and soil.

While the EU Ecolabel continues to exhibit strong growth, with almost 90 000 certified goods and services in 25 different product groups available on the EU market, there are still pertinent challenges that hold back its potential to further expand. Amongst these, are a relatively low level of awareness amongst consumers, competition from established domestic ecolabels, and significant differences in implementation efforts at Member State level caused by limitations in resources and capacity of national bodies tasked with promoting the EU Ecolabel nationally. To address these, the European Commission (EC) has committed to implementing a more strategic approach for the EU Ecolabel, structured by the Strategic Multi-Annual EU Ecolabel Communication Work Plan (2023-2027), which has prioritised concrete impactful and effective communication actions to be implemented at the most appropriate level by the EC, Competent Bodies (CBs) which are the national bodies tasked with implementing the EU Ecolabel, and other stakeholders. A cornerstone of this plan is a tailored capacity building programme for CBs that will support them in developing the EU Ecolabel nationally in the best possible way.