Revised ESRS are now law — and companies outside CSRD get their own standard
Both delegated regulations completing the Omnibus I reporting package were published in the EU Official Journal on 21 September. Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1563 replaces the ESRS with the simplified set, enters into force on 10 November 2026 and applies to financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2027. Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1560 creates the Voluntary Standard for companies outside CSRD scope, in force since 24 September, with Basic and Comprehensive modules, no mandatory assurance, and a value-chain cap applying to financial years from 2027.
Who it affects
Textile SMEs that supply large European brands and spend the year answering sustainability questionnaires, plus the companies still inside CSRD scope after Omnibus raised the thresholds.
How it affects
For a supplier, the Voluntary Standard is the useful half: it gives a recognised format to answer with, instead of a different spreadsheet for every client, and the value-chain cap limits what a large customer can demand from a company outside CSRD scope. Learning its vocabulary before the 2027 reporting season is cheaper than being pulled into each client's own template.
Record 139 million tonnes of fibre — and recycled polyester loses ground
Textile Exchange's 2026 Materials Market Report puts global fibre production at 139 million tonnes in 2025, up from 132 million the year before. Polyester alone grew by 4.8 million tonnes, while recycled polyester reached 9.7 million tonnes and captured only 6 to 8% of that growth — its share of total polyester slipped from 12.0% to 11.8%, down from 14.8% in 2021. Recycled materials of all kinds account for 7.6% of global fibre production. The 384 brands in the Materials Benchmark did improve, moving from 68% to 72% of fibre sourced through certification or verification programmes.
Who it affects
Anyone who has written a recycled-content target into a collection plan or a tender, and the sourcing teams who will have to buy that content in a market where virgin polyester is taking more than nine tenths of new capacity.
How it affects
The gap between corporate commitment and material reality is now measurable: brands that report are improving while the market they buy from is going the other way. That matters for the ESPR delegated act on textiles, expected in 2027, because recycled-content requirements written into law assume a supply that is currently shrinking in relative terms. Anyone planning around recycled polyester should treat availability, not price, as the binding constraint.
EmpCo is now in force — and it covers claims that are already online
The Empowering Consumers Directive applies across all Member States from 27 September, including to products already on the market. Generic claims such as "green" or "eco-friendly" are unlawful without proof of excellent environmental performance, self-created sustainability labels without independent monitoring are banned, and claims resting only on carbon offsetting are prohibited. Enforcement sits with national consumer authorities such as ACM in the Netherlands and DGCCRF in France, with fines up to 4% of annual turnover in the Member States concerned, or at least €2 million where turnover cannot be determined.
Who it affects
Every brand selling to consumers in the EU, including the small label whose shop still says "sustainably made" on a page written three years ago and never revisited.
How it affects
The work is now an audit of existing material, not a rule for future campaigns. The line is concrete: "Made with 95% GOTS-certified organic cotton" passes, "Sustainably made" does not, and calling a t-shirt recycled when only the sewing thread is recycled is a violation. For stock already printed, covering a non-compliant claim with a sticker or adding the evidence at the point of sale is an accepted fix.
Italy's greenwashing decree bites: AGCM can fine up to €10 million per breach
Italy's Legislative Decree 30/2026, adopted on 20 February and in force since 24 March, brings its substantive obligations into application on 27 September — the same day as the EU directive it transposes. A new Article 23 of the Consumer Code makes several practices unlawful outright: sustainability labels without independent third-party certification or public backing, generic terms such as "eco", "green", "natural" or "biodegradable" without recognised external certification, whole-product claims when only one aspect qualifies, and climate-neutrality claims resting only on offsetting. The AGCM enforces, with fines from €5,000 to €10 million per infringement, rising to 4% of annual turnover for coordinated cross-border breaches.
Who it affects
Every company selling to Italian consumers, which for a Veneto or Prato manufacturer with its own label means the national authority now has a specific sanction to apply, not just a general unfair-practices power. There is no separate threshold for small companies and no sell-through period for existing stock.
How it affects
The EU directive sets the rule; this decree sets the price of breaking it in Italy, and it is the national numbers that make the risk concrete. The AGCM already fined Shein €1 million in 2025 over recyclability claims under the old rules, so the enforcement appetite in fashion is not hypothetical. Under the new article the same conduct starts from a far higher floor.
The other 27 September rule: a guarantee notice at every point of sale
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1960, adopted in September 2025, applies from 27 September 2026 across all Member States. Sellers must display a harmonised notice informing consumers of the minimum two-year legal guarantee against defective goods, before purchase, both on product pages online and through signage or shelf-edge information in store. The accompanying GARAN label is voluntary and only available where a durability guarantee covers the whole product, lasts more than two years and costs the buyer nothing. No new sewn-in, care or fibre-composition labels are required.
Who it affects
Any brand or retailer selling clothing, textiles or footwear to consumers in the EU — in practice, the small e-commerce operations that spent the summer rewriting green claims and never looked at their product pages for this.
How it affects
This obligation got a fraction of the attention EmpCo did and lands on exactly the same day, but it is far simpler to close: a standard notice on the product page and visible signage in store. Treat GARAN as a separate decision — it is worth claiming only if you already give a free, whole-product guarantee longer than two years, and saying so without meeting all three conditions creates a new claims problem under EmpCo.