Green claims, sustainability labels, and software update requirements: New stricter competition law regulations

On February 12, 2026, the German Bundestag passed various amendments to the Unfair Competition Act (UWG). In doing so, the legislature is transposing European Directive (EU) 2024/825 ("EmpCo Directive") into national law. The aim is to better protect consumers and market participants from misleading environmental and sustainability claims. In doing so, the legislature is going far beyond the established requirements of case law (VOELKER reported). This results in new requirements, some of which are subject to fines, particularly in the areas of marketing and advertising statements, sustainability claims, and products with software elements. The amendments will essentially come into force on September 27, 2026. VOELKER provides an overview.

Prohibition of blanket, unverifiable environmental claims

The core of the legal changes is the ban on unverifiable general environmental claims if the entrepreneur cannot demonstrate recognized, outstanding environmental performance. Looking at the underlying EU directive, the following environmental claims are cited as examples of prohibited claims:

  • "Environmentally friendly"

  • "Environmentally friendly"

  • "green"

  • "nature-friendly"

  • "ecological"

  • "environmentally sound"

  • "Climate-friendly"

  • "environmentally sustainable"

  • "CO2-friendly"

  • "energy efficient"

  • "Biodegradable"

This list of examples shows that in future, proof of recognized outstanding environmental performance will be required for a large number of commonly used product descriptions. Such proof is provided in particular when the requirements of certain statutory eco-labels (EU eco-label, energy efficiency class A, etc.) or certain DIN or ISO standards (such as the "Blue Angel") are met.

Further requirements for environmental and sustainability advertising

In addition, environmental claims are only permitted in principle if clear, objective, publicly accessible, and verifiable commitments are made, based on an implementation plan that is regularly evaluated by an expert, thereby ruling out any possibility of misleading consumers. Particular attention should be paid to the characteristic of public accessibility. Evidence for the environmental claim must therefore be directly accessible, if necessary—for example, via a QR code attached to the product packaging. Comparable requirements (but without the strict documentation and disclosure obligations) also apply when advertising the social characteristics of the product. If, for example, compliance with certain social standards or "fair trade" aspects is advertised, it must be ensured that this is not misleading and applies to all production batches or suppliers without exception.

Finally, caution is advised when advertising with sustainability labels. In the future, the use of such sustainability labels will only be permitted if they are based on a certification system by independent third parties according to transparent criteria or are established by a government agency. In other words, the use of proprietary or non-established sustainability labels is generally prohibited.

Prohibition of misleading claims regarding durability, reparability, and software updates

Similar requirements also apply to advertising claims regarding the durability and repairability of products and for software updates. In future, it will be expressly prohibited to withhold information about the negative impact of software updates, in particular security updates, on the functioning of goods. This change in the law was prompted by the secret throttling of performance by smartphone manufacturers in the past.

At the same time, however, it will also be prohibited in future to describe pure functional updates as "necessary." Considering that security and functional updates regularly coincide and the differentiation is not clear-cut, this requirement could pose considerable challenges for manufacturers of products with software elements (for example, with regard to the wording in release notes or in system dialogs when updates are mentioned).

In addition, it will be expressly prohibited in future to advertise a product as repairable if this is not the case. Similarly, information must be provided about product features if these result in a limitation of the product's durability that is known to the manufacturer (keyword: "planned early obsolescence").

Penalties for violations

Cross-border violations of the new regulations are punishable by fines of up to EUR 50,000. If the company has an annual turnover of more than EUR 1.25 million, the fine can amount to up to 4 percent of the annual turnover. In this case, the fine can be imposed on the management and senior executives up to a maximum of EUR 5 million.

In addition to these administrative offenses, competitors and consumer protection associations may enforce the law in the usual manner in the event of violations. This includes claims for injunctive relief, information, damages, and reimbursement of costs by way of out-of-court warnings, preliminary injunctions, or injunctive relief proceedings.

Conclusion

The far-reaching tightening of competition law should prompt companies to critically review their own advertising statements and marketing claims. This applies equally to packaging design and product information as well as to statements in environmental and sustainability marketing that were common and unobjectionable in the past. In future, the following principle will apply: anything that is not certified by a reputable body or directly verifiable is no longer suitable for use in advertising. There are also additional changes for products with software components in particular. The legal changes should be anticipated at an early stage. It can be assumed that, once the tightening of the law comes into force, violations will soon result in costly warnings.

VOELKER supports you in implementing or securing the new requirements.

Date: 24. Feb 2026