Regulatory Blind Spots in the EU Green Claims Directive: Constructing a Comparative Legal Diagnostic Tool for Enforcement Against Borderline Corporate Misrepresentation

• Asher Noah

  covenant University

  Author

The proliferation of unsubstantiated environmental claims by corporations—commonly termed "greenwashing"—has prompted legislative responses across jurisdictions, with the European Union's proposed Green Claims Directive representing the most ambitious attempt to establish a harmonised regulatory framework. However, the Directive's recent withdrawal and the parallel implementation of the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive have created a complex enforcement landscape characterised by regulatory fragmentation and interpretive ambiguity. This study addresses the critical gap between regulatory intent and enforcement capability by constructing a comparative legal diagnostic tool designed to identify and assess borderline corporate misrepresentation across multiple EU member state jurisdictions. Utilising a mixed-method research design combining doctrinal legal analysis with empirical validation through a sample of 247 environmental claims drawn from corporate disclosures across five EU member states, the research develops a multidimensional diagnostic framework incorporating legal compliance indicators, scientific substantiation metrics, and contextual risk factors. The diagnostic tool demonstrates 89.4% accuracy in identifying borderline misrepresentation compared to expert panel assessments (n=12, κ=0.81), significantly outperforming existing binary compliance checklists which achieved only 67.2% accuracy. The study's findings reveal that regulatory ambiguity—particularly regarding "significant harm" determinations and lifecycle assessment methodologies—creates systematic enforcement vulnerabilities exploited through strategic claim framing. The diagnostic tool offers a replicable framework for regulatory authorities, legal practitioners, and corporate compliance officers to assess environmental claims with greater precision and consistency. This research contributes to the emerging literature on greenwashing regulation by providing empirically validated diagnostic instruments that bridge the gap between legislative ambition and enforcement reality in an era of regulatory uncertainty.

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Copyright (c) 2026 Asher Noah (Author)

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