As noted on DG environment's website, "only the very best products, which are kindest to the environment, are entitled to carry the EU Ecolabel". Unfortunately, given the weak framework and standard being proposed, the EU Ecolabel for newsprint and printed paper would not provide assurances that the fibres do not come from the deforestation of endangered habitats. These criteria are being discussed in an Ad-hoc-Working Group meeting in Copenhagen today.

The European Environmental Paper Network (EEPN) is opposed to using the extraordinarily weak criteria already established for graphic and copy paper as a basis for printed and newsprint paper. The EU Ecolabel Board (EUEB) decided to delete any minimum requirement for recycled fibre content from the criteria for copy and graphic paper. The EEPN demands 80% recycled fibre content to be defined as a minimum requirement. This figure was originally proposed by DG Environment for newsprint paper, and according to EEPN, an Ecolabel for paper products without a very high mandatory content of recycled fibre is useless and misleading to consumers and the public. The EUEB decided also to allow the AOX emissions threshold up to 0.2 kg/ADT, an unacceptable amount from an environmental point of view.

The EEPN, representing 53 member organisations across Europe, will recognise the 'EU Flower' Ecolabel for paper products only if it is in line with its Common Vision for Transforming the Paper Industry.

"The proposal currently under discussion in the EUEB is deeply worrying,' said Daniel Hausknost, EEPN coordinator. "The EU Ecolabel could be a strong tool to help the paper industry move in the direction of sustainable production and a great device to give consumers a real environmental choice. However, the Ecolabel is instead reducing itself to a marketing tool for industries with little or no environmental concerns', he warns. "The Ecolabel was recently awarded to two copy paper brands linked to the destruction of carbon rich Indonesian rainforests and manufactured by notorious Asia Pulp and Paper. This is sad proof of where the EU Ecolabel is currently going".

If the EUEB continues its current path, it will be very problematic for environmental organizations in Europe to take seriously the EU Ecolabel for paper products, and therefore potentially bring into question the Ecolabel for all products. Many companies are showing leadership, demonstrating that it is possible to produce environmentally sound paper being competitive in the market, and consumer demand is more and more increasing the market of paper products with high environmental performance. The EU Ecolabel appears to be upsetting this momentum, following a path which will increasingly turn it into a mere 'greenwash' device.

"Last October, we sent a letter as EEPN with specific concerns about the EU Ecolabel for copying and graphic paper. We later learned that none of our points were taken seriously into account" continued Hausknost. "We have followed the negotiation process over the last few months, but are concerned about its outcome so far."

Unfortunately, the EU flower is in danger of fading right before its important anniversary in 2012. It is now time for the EUEB to make a choice between establishing a credible Ecolabel which consumers can trust or create a label that will be more and more exposed as greenwash.