Law & market

EU advertising law checker

EU advertising law bans misleading commercial practices across the single market. The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, its Omnibus update and sector rules on health, environmental and pricing claims apply to anything you sell to EU consumers.

What it covers

ComplyAds checks your listing text against the EU rules that most often trip sellers up, and cites the specific instrument behind each flag:

• Medical or health claim — claims that a product treats, cures or prevents a condition Cosmetics Reg (EC) 1223/2009 Art 20 + Common Criteria Reg (EU) 655/2013; disease/'cure' claims cross into medicines regime (Dir 2001/83/EC). Food/supplement health claims = Reg (EC) 1924/2006.
• Fake or incentivised reviews — fake, bought or undisclosed incentivised reviews Omnibus Dir (EU) 2019/2161 -> UCPD Annex I (fake / undisclosed reviews = banned practice)
• Unsubstantiated efficacy claim — efficacy claims like "clinically proven" made without solid evidence UCPD 2005/29/EC Art 6 (misleading actions) — the trader-facing duty: a factual claim the trader cannot support is a misleading action. Art 12 is the enforcement power (courts/authorities may require substantiation in proceedings), not an obligation on the trader to hold evidence before claiming. Cosmetics: Common Criteria Reg (EU) 655/2013 + PIF evidence (Art 11, Reg 1223/2009)
• Misleading or drip pricing — inflated "was" prices, fake discounts and fees revealed late Price Indication Dir 98/6/EC Art 6a (30-day prior lowest price) + Omnibus / UCPD
• Unqualified superlative or absolute claim — unqualified superlatives and absolutes — "best", "#1", "100%" UCPD 2005/29/EC Art 6 (misleading actions) — unsubstantiated superiority. NOT Annex I; obvious puffery permitted.
• Unqualified environmental claim — vague environmental claims like "eco-friendly" or "carbon neutral" UCPD 2005/29/EC as amended by EmpCo Dir (EU) 2024/825, applicable since 27 Sep 2026; Annex I now bans in all circumstances: a generic environmental claim the trader cannot back with recognised excellent environmental performance (pt 4a — EU Ecolabel or an officially recognised EN ISO 14024 type I scheme), a claim about the entire product or business that concerns only one aspect (pt 4b), a claim of neutral, reduced or positive greenhouse-gas impact based on offsetting (pt 4c), and a sustainability label not based on a certification scheme or established by public authorities (pt 2a); a claim is only 'generic' if its specification is not given clearly and prominently on the same medium, so a specific, substantiated claim about one named aspect is not banned per se and is assessed under Arts 6-7 (misleading actions/omissions). NOTE: standalone Green Claims Dir WITHDRAWN ~Jun 2025 — do not cite it.
• Possible false urgency or scarcity — invented urgency — "only 3 left", "ends today" — that isn’t genuine UCPD 2005/29/EC Annex I pt 7 (falsely stating a product will be available only for a very limited TIME, to elicit an immediate decision) = banned practice. Note the limit: false STOCK scarcity ('only 3 left') is NOT a per-se banned practice — assess under Art 6 (misleading actions), or Annex I pts 5-6 (bait advertising) where stock is inadequate.

An example that gets flagged

ComplyAds flags that as a health claim and points to the exact rule it relates to, not just the act — a prompt to look more closely before you publish.

How the checker works

Paste a listing, ad or post; the risky phrases we detect are highlighted in your text with the reason in plain English and the rule behind it. It runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded. It reads English-language text only; listings in other languages are not checked.

Not legal advice. ComplyAds is an informational risk check that flags potentially problematic wording under EU rules. It does not certify compliance or cover every rule, and it is no substitute for advice from a qualified professional in the markets you sell in.

Questions