Aviation marketing ruling (2024)
An Amsterdam court found a carrier's sustainability advertising misleading, including offset-based framing of flight emissions.
Diese Seite ist maschinell übersetzt und wurde nicht unabhängig geprüft. Rechtsbegriffe, Richtlinien-Nummern und zitierter Gesetzestext bleiben in der Originalform. Im Zweifel gilt die englische Fassung. English
Länder-Leitfaden
Grüne Aussagen in Niederlande
The ACM published detailed sustainability-claims guidance early and has secured public commitments from large retailers rather than going straight to fines.
medium Durchsetzungsrisiko
Die Länderangaben unten — Behörde, Gesetz, Bußgeldrahmen, Rechtsprechung und die lokalen Formulierungen — bleiben auf Englisch. Sie zitieren nationales Recht und benennen Behörden und Urteile; eine maschinelle Übersetzung davon wäre genau die Ungenauigkeit, vor der dieses Werkzeug warnt. Im Zweifel gilt der englische Wortlaut, und maßgeblich ist ohnehin das Gesetz Ihres Marktes.
Wer durchsetzt
ACM (Autoriteit Consument & Markt)
Publishes the Guidelines on Sustainability Claims, runs sector studies, and can impose fines or accept binding commitments. The Reclame Code Commissie handles advertising complaints under the Environmental Advertising Code.
Nationales Recht
Burgerlijk Wetboek Book 6 (unfair commercial practices) implementing the UCPD, amended for Directive 2024/825.
Sanktionen
The ACM can impose a fine of up to EUR 900,000 or, if higher, 1% of turnover (Whc art. 2.15(1)). For the unfair commercial practices listed in articles 193g and 193i of Book 6 of the Civil Code — which is where the environmental-claim blacklist sits, and therefore where most findings from this scanner land — art. 2.15(2) raises the ceiling to EUR 900,000 or 10% of turnover, whichever is higher. Coordinated CPC cases run to 4%, or 10% for those same practices, or EUR 2 million where turnover is unavailable. A second comparable infringement within five years doubles the maximum (art. 2.15(4)). Verified against wetten.overheid.nl on 23 August 2026.
Gegen die Primärquelle geprüft — wetten.overheid.nl, Whc art. 2.15 (redaction of 25 June 2026), 2026-08-23 (35 Tage her).
Markt
Verkauf nach Niederlande
- Größe
- High online penetration relative to population, with strong cross-border trade into Belgium and Germany.
- Marktbild
- Consolidated marketplace landscape and a mature comparison-shopping culture.
- Wo die Aussagen stehen
- Energy, aviation, clothing and food have all been the subject of ACM interventions.
Praktisch
Was dieser Markt von Ihnen erwartet
- The ACM's five rules of thumb are the practical test: make claims accurate, substantiated, specific, fair in comparison, and honest about your own trade-offs.
- Visual claims count — imagery and colour are assessed alongside text.
- Sustainability claims used in a company name or collection name are still claims.
- Evidence should be accessible to consumers, not just held internally.
Lokale Formulierungen
Die Formulierungen mit Risiko in Niederlande
Übersetzte Texte werden in der Landessprache beurteilt, und die nationale Rechtsprechung hat bestimmten Begriffen bereits Bedeutung zugewiesen.
| Lokaler Begriff | Auf Englisch | Warum es hier zählt |
|---|---|---|
| duurzaam | Sustainable | Generic claim under ACM guidance. |
| milieuvriendelijk | environmentally friendly | Generic claim. |
| klimaatneutraal | climate neutral | Offset-based versions are the ACM's main target. |
| groen | Green | Especially scrutinised in energy tariffs. |
| biologisch afbreekbaar | Biodegradable | Conditions and timeframe required. |
| hernieuwbaar | Renewable | "Renewable" says the input regrows, not that the product is better. Without the share, the source and the certification it carries the weight of an environmental benefit it has not demonstrated — and for energy it needs a supplier-specific figure, not a national grid average. |
| natuurlijk | Natural | "Natural" reads as an environmental and safety benefit but has no legal definition outside food and cosmetics standards. Natural origin also does not make a substance harmless. |
| ecologisch | Ecological | Presented as a quality mark, it asserts general environmental soundness. In several member states it is also treated as implying organic certification. |
| duurzaamheid | Sustainability | Used as a product or badge label (“Sustainability score”, “Sustainability choice”) it is a generic claim and has to be substantiated. The word also has a legitimate use as the title of a real report or policy page — we cannot tell the two apart from the wording alone, so we flag it and leave the judgement to you. If this instance is a report title, mark it and move on. |
| verantwoord | Responsible | "Responsibly made" or "responsible sourcing" asserts ethical and environmental diligence without naming the standard the diligence is measured against. |
| biologisch | Organic | For food, feed and agricultural products the term is legally reserved for certified operators. Outside that scope it is an unsubstantiated quality claim. |
| composteerbaar | Compostable | Industrial and home composting are different capabilities, and most consumers have access only to the latter. Unqualified, the claim misdirects disposal behaviour. |
| recyclebaar | Recyclable | Technically recyclable is not the same as actually collected. If no separate collection stream exists in the markets you sell to, the claim misleads. |
| gerecycled | Recycled | The trap is scope: "recycled packaging" on a product with a virgin plastic bottle and a recycled outer sleeve is a partial benefit presented as a whole-product one. |
| plasticvrij | Plastic-free | Frequently false at component level: adhesives, liners, coatings and labels usually contain polymers. It also implies an overall environmental benefit that a heavier alternative may not deliver. |
| chemievrij | Chemical-free | Scientifically impossible — all matter is chemical. It plays on chemophobia and cannot be substantiated in any form. |
| niet-giftig | Non-toxic | Toxicity is dose-dependent and substance-specific, so a blanket "non-toxic" is not demonstrable. It also implies competitors are toxic. |
| emissievrij | Zero emissions | Absolute and almost always false for a physical product across its lifecycle. It is defensible only for a narrowly defined stage that genuinely emits nothing, and the stage must be named. |
| koolstofarm | Low carbon | "Low" is implicitly comparative and therefore needs a disclosed benchmark. Low compared to what, measured how? |
| netto nul | Net zero | As a present-tense product claim it is an offsetting claim. As a target it is a future-performance claim needing verifiable commitments and independent monitoring. |
| CO2-neutraal | Carbon neutral | Prohibited where it rests on offsetting, which is how virtually all such claims are built. The German Federal Court of Justice (BGH, I ZR 98/23) additionally requires the meaning of the term to be explained at the point of the claim. |
| klimaatvriendelijk | Climate friendly | Suggests a positive or neutral climate effect for a product that still emits. Where the basis is offsetting it also breaches the offsetting ban. |
| biogebaseerd | Bio-based | Bio-based says where the carbon came from, not that the product is compostable, recyclable or lower impact — yet consumers read all three into it. |
| duurzamer | More sustainable | Combines the generic-claim problem with an undisclosed benchmark — vague on both the metric and the comparison set. |
| groener dan | Greener than... | A comparison is only fair if the buyer can see what was compared, on which impacts, using which data. "Greener" discloses none of it. |
| milieuvriendelijker | Eco-friendlier | Comparative form of a term that is already too vague in its base form. |
| BPA-vrij | BPA-free | BPA has been banned in food contact materials in the EU since Regulation (EU) 2024/3190. Advertising its absence as a benefit presents compliance as a distinguishing feature. |
| niet op dieren getest | No animal testing | Animal testing of cosmetics and their ingredients has been prohibited in the EU since 2013 under Regulation 1223/2009. For cosmetics sold in the EU this is compliance, not a differentiator. |
| CE-gecertificeerd | CE certified | CE marking is mandatory for the product categories that require it, and it is a manufacturer's declaration, not a certification. Marketing it as a quality feature is doubly misleading. |
| ftalaatvrij | Phthalate-free | The main phthalates are restricted or authorisation-only under REACH Annex XVII and XIV, so for most consumer goods absence is the legal baseline. |
| klimaatpositief | Carbon positive | Claims a net beneficial climate effect. In practice it always rests on purchased credits, which point 4c rules out as a basis for any neutrality, reduction or positive-impact claim. |
| CO2-gereduceerd | CO2 reduced | A reduction claim is only meaningful against a stated baseline, scope and period. Without them the buyer cannot tell what was reduced or from what. |
| natuurvriendelijk | Nature's friend | A figurative benefit claim. Regulators read implied environmental claims the same way as explicit ones, and the figurative framing makes it harder, not easier, to substantiate. |
| aardevriendelijk | Earth-friendly | A planetary-scale benefit claim with no scope, no metric and no possible substantiation for an individual product. |
| circulaire economie | Circular | Zonder werkelijke inzamelroute is het een intentie, geen eigenschap. |
| klimaatbescherming | Climate protection | Overweging 9 noemt precies deze woordfamilie. |
| positieve impact op het milieu, positieve impact op mens en milieu | Positive impact | Netto-positieve claim — de sterkste vorm van algemene milieuclaim. |
| in harmonie met de natuur | In harmony with nature | Niet meetbaar; leest als milieuvoordeel zonder verplichting. |
| het milieu minder belasten | Lower environmental impact | Vergelijking zonder basislijn of omvang. |
| grondstoffen besparen | Resource-saving | Welke grondstof, ten opzichte waarvan, hoeveel. |
| regeneratieve landbouw, regeneratief katoen | Regenerative | Matched as a phrase, not as a bare adjective. The adjective alone is ordinary vocabulary in medical and technical Dutch and carries no environmental claim. |
Häufige Funde
Woran Shops in Niederlande scheitern
- "Duurzaam" as a collection label without inclusion criteria
- Climate-neutral flight or delivery options based on offsets
- Green imagery on products with no environmental attribute at all
- Comparisons against an undisclosed baseline
Siegel
Hier anerkannte Systeme
On the way to PlanetProof
Independent Dutch sustainability label for food and plants.
EU Ecolabel
Recognised across the EU.
EKO
Organic label going beyond the EU baseline.
Rechtsprechung
Was in Niederlande bereits entschieden wurde
Die Durchsetzungsgeschichte ist der beste verfügbare Anhaltspunkt dafür, wie eine Aussage gelesen wird.
ACM clothing sector action
Several large clothing retailers adjusted or withdrew sustainability claims and made public commitments after ACM scrutiny.
Fallzusammenfassungen sind zur Orientierung paraphrasiert und entsprechend vereinfacht. Prüfen Sie die Entscheidung selbst, bevor Sie sich darauf stützen.
Anderswo
Andere Märkte
Deutschland
Wettbewerbszentrale, consumer associations and competitors
Frankreich
DGCCRF
Spanien
Regional consumer authorities and the Ministry of Consumer Affairs
Italien
AGCM (Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato)
Estland
Tarbijakaitse ja Tehnilise Järelevalve Amet (TTJA)
Finnland
Kilpailu- ja kuluttajavirasto (KKV)
Schweden
Konsumentverket / Konsumentombudsmannen (KO)
Prüfen Sie Ihre Aussagen für Niederlande
Wählen Sie den Markt im Scanner, und die Risiko-Schätzung nutzt dessen Obergrenze.