#13 Brussels Shelved the Anti-Greenwashing Directive. Nobody's Talking About It Enough.

In June 2025, the EU's "Green Claims" directive was abandoned. A year later, in 2026, the confusion it was supposed to fix is still here, and it keeps costing money for anyone trying to do this honestly.

The text, in discussion since January 2023, would have forced companies to prove environmental claims before printing them. No more "climate neutral" without a published methodology, no more "100% natural" without a certification behind it. On June 18, 2025, the EPP — the largest political group in the European Parliament — asked for it to be scrapped entirely. The Commission said yes, then a few hours later, no — it would keep backing the text, but only if Europe's 30 million micro-enterprises were exempted. Since then, nothing. The directive sits shelved under the Commission's "simplification agenda," launched in early 2025, which has also touched due diligence rules and textile environmental labeling.

What this retreat actually means

It means that in 2026, a brand can still print "eco-responsible" on a label without any authority ever asking it to justify that word. It means "sustainable" stays a marketing adjective, not a legal category. And it means brands that put in the work to document their choices precisely — a tanning process, a certification, a real percentage of recycled material — end up competing on the same shelf as brands that slap the word "green" on packaging and change nothing behind it.

I'm not surprised this fell under the weight of "simplification." In practice, that word usually means fewer constraints for whoever can afford lobbying, and zero protection for the customer who doesn't have time to audit an entire supply chain before buying a pair of sneakers.

What we do in the absence of any obligation

At Singulaar, our leather is LWG Gold certified — the strictest rating the Leather Working Group gives out, not a self-declared label. We commit to 1 kg less plastic in the ocean per pair sold, a number we can explain and stand behind, not a vague slogan. And we say it plainly: leather is never an environmentally neutral material. We don't claim to have solved that problem. We claim to know exactly where it sits, and to be working to reduce it rather than dress it up.

That's slower, and honestly more expensive, than printing "green" on a box. But it's the only version of that word that still means anything if nobody's forcing us to use it correctly.

Brussels had a chance to make that word verifiable for everyone. It chose simplification instead. It's on us to keep making the difference without it.

Mehdi, July 24, 2026.