The Spanish government aims to end all messages, services, or goods that do not align with today’s environmental demands of consumers. For this reason, the Council of Ministers approved the Sustainable Consumption Bill in its first round this Tuesday, taking its first step with the goal of “strengthening the protection of consumers and the environment through measures that promote conscious and responsible consumption.”
In this sense, the regulation, promoted by the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs, and the 2030 Agenda, includes among its most prominent innovations the prohibition of advertising for fossil fuels, the prohibition of short-haul flights if there is another, more sustainable alternative, and also the prohibition of vehicles powered exclusively by fossil fuels. Specifically, regarding energy products consisting exclusively of fossil derivatives such as oil or coal, which contribute to increasing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, the new regulation will veto any type of advertising. However, gas marketing companies are exempt from this regulation.
The law also provides for an advertising ban on short-haul flights by plane as long as there is a cleaner alternative – such as a train – that does not involve extending the journey by more than two and a half hours. However, the measure only affects journeys that have their origin and destination within the territory of the peninsula. Finally, the ban will also affect advertising for vehicles powered exclusively by fossil fuels, which are therefore more polluting. “The goal of this government is to encourage industry to accelerate the productive transition to more accessible and sustainable models, so that prices for consumers are lowered, but also decisive progress is made in protecting the environment. Social justice, equality, and environmental protection must go hand in hand,” said the Minister of Social Rights and Consumer Affairs, Pablo Bustinduy. In this sense, Bustinduy announced that from now on he will advocate for this regulation to include a tax package during the processing process that guarantees that “those who pollute the most, the rich, pay what they are due.”
Regulation for “Fear Advertising”
The regulation also includes other innovative measures to protect consumer rights. For example, price increases on the resale of tickets will be prohibited if a price increase above the CPI is made from the time of the first purchase, and so-called “fear advertising” will be regulated, which bases its effectiveness on presenting extreme or improbable scenarios to the consumer, such as violent robberies or catastrophic vulnerabilities, which are common among companies dedicated to security. For this reason, it will be mandatory for these commercial measures to be accompanied by statistical information that allows citizens to actually assess the risk.
Another bad practice that this law seeks to combat is planned obsolescence, i.e., when companies deliberately shorten the useful life of their products so that they can be bought again. In this sense, the regulation aims to promote the repair of products during the three-year legal warranty period, and this period can be extended by another twelve months if repair instead of replacement is chosen when claiming the warranty.
On the other hand, the future regulation will also regulate the business practice known as shrinkflation, i.e., reducing the size or quantity of a product while maintaining or even increasing its price, and companies will be forced to inform the consumer clearly and understandably about the implementation of this practice.
