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Prohibited generic claims, exclusion of in-house labels, penalties of up to 10% of revenue: what the ECGT will change for the furniture industry starting in September 2026.
In 2023 and 2024, the DGCCRF inspected 3,000 businesses for compliance with their environmental claims, prioritizing three sectors deemed to be at risk: textiles, cosmetics, and furniture. More than 15% of the businesses inspected were found to have serious violations.
In the furniture industry, investigators found that terms such as “eco-friendly” or “environmentally friendly” were being misused, and that claims of FSC certification were being made for furniture made from wood that was not actually certified.
Starting in September 2026, the transposition into French law of the European ECGT Directive (Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition, Directive 2024/825) will significantly tighten the rules: certain practices that were previously penalized on a case-by-case basis will become illegal by default.
This article breaks down what’s actually changing for furniture brands: the new scope of claims, the ban on generic statements, the end of in-house labels, practices now considered unfair, and a four-step method for bringing your communications into compliance.
The "Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition" Directive redefines the concept of environmental claims. It now covers:
“Any non-mandatory message or statement […], in any form whatsoever, including text, an image, a graphic representation, or a symbol such as a label, trademark, company name, or product name, in the context of a commercial communication, that asserts or implies that a product […] has a positive or neutral environmental impact, is less harmful to the environment than other products […], or has improved its environmental impact over time.”
Three major expansions compared to the previous framework:
The ECGT distinguishes between two categories.
Any environmental claim made in writing or orally that is not part of a sustainability label and for which the specifications are not provided in clear and conspicuous terms on the same medium.
The terms explicitly listed in the directive speak for themselves: environmentally friendly, nature-friendly, green, nature-friendly, ecological, good for the environment, good for the climate, environmentally beneficial, low-carbon, energy-efficient, biodegradable, and bio-based.
A generic claim ceases to be generic once it is clarified, provided that the clarification appears on the same medium, in the same advertisement, on the same packaging, or on the same online sales interface. An asterisk linking to a separate page on the website is not sufficient.
The ECGT prohibits generic claims unless the company can demonstrate excellent environmental performance relevant to the claim:
Important point: The evidence must cover the entire allegation, not just part of it.
FSC and PEFC are third-party-verified forest management certifications: they are fully legitimate under the ECGT. However, they are not Type I ecolabels for the finished product. Therefore, they do not entitle the holder to make a generic claim.
For furniture brands whose product lines do not carry the European Ecolabel or the NF Environnement certification, the conclusion is clear: they should either stop using generic terminology or replace it with specific, quantified claims.
The ECGT introduces the concept of a Sustainable Development Label (SDL): any voluntary trust label, quality label, or equivalent—whether public or private—that distinguishes a product, process, or company for its environmental or social characteristics. Mandatory labels required by European or national law are excluded from this definition.
Why this focus? An impact assessment by the European Commission identified 230 environmental labels on the market, nearly half of which are awarded without adequate verification. Yet these labels carry significant weight in purchasing decisions, particularly for durable goods in the mid-to-high price range, such as furniture.
From now on, the use of a private label involves a process involving three distinct parties:
The ECGT also requires that the specifications be made public and non-discriminatory, that a withdrawal procedure be in place in the event of non-compliance, and that the third-party organization be independent of both the brand and the label owner.
The ECGT amends Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair commercial practices. Placing a practice on the list of “unfair practices in all circumstances” is tantamount tobanning it outright: it will no longer be necessary to prove that the consumer’s behavior was influenced.
Among the practices that are now prohibited by default:
Two other practices are still evaluated on a case-by-case basis, but are now explicitly considered misleading:
Failure to comply with these rules constitutes a deceptive business practice, punishable by:
The judge may set the fine at 10 percent of the average annual revenue (calculated based on the last three known fiscal years), or at 50 percent of the expenses incurred for the advertising in question, and up to 80 percent when the deceptive practice is based on environmental claims.
The scale of the issue is not just theoretical: in 2025, a player in the online apparel retail sector was fined 40 million euros by the DGCCRF, in part for failing to substantiate the environmental claims posted on its website.
In terms of enforcement, the direction is clear. The DGCCRF’s 2023–2024 investigation covered 3,000 establishments and resulted in 430 compliance orders, more than 70 administrative fines and criminal citations, and more than 500 warnings.
The furniture industry is explicitly listed among the targeted sectors, for two recurring reasons:
The agency announced that it would step up its inspections in the coming years, with a particular focus on product labels and claims.
Compile a list of all claims currently in circulation, as broadly defined by the ECGT: product descriptions, names of product lines and collections, pictograms, in-house ratings, shelf labels, catalogs and color charts, sales and specification materials, technical specifications for requests for proposals, social media content, the “Commitments” page on the website, and the annual report.
The inventory is almost always larger than expected, especially since, in the furniture industry, a single SKU is often carried across about ten different platforms managed by different teams.
For each claim, there are three possible outcomes:
A specific claim is only valid if the data supporting it is robust and traceable. “–30% CO₂e emissions for this buffet compared to our 2022 baseline” requires a product-level life cycle assessment (LCA), an explicit basis for comparison, and a method that is available for review.
The challenge is real in the furniture industry: a piece of furniture combines solid wood, engineered wood panels, foam, textiles, metals, adhesives, and finishes—often sourced from suppliers of varying tiers. The claim is valid only if the actual bill of materials is known and if supplier data is collected in a structured manner.
Legal risk most often arises from a disconnect between the marketing and CSR teams. Three simple safeguards:
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