The Compliance Countdown: Why Your European Agents are Changing Partners

While 27 March 2026 marked the adoption of EU greenwashing laws, the 27 September deadline is when enforcement actually begins. In this episode, Samantha Smits explains why being outside the European Union does not protect you from these regulations. If you supply to EU agents, your lack of evidence makes you a legal liability. Learn how to move from being a risk to a preferred partner by focusing on hard units, such as litres and watts, rather than just your monthly bills.

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Transcript

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But for you now, you would need hard numbers. It is becoming a passport to enter business in the European Union, and by having your supporting evidence ready, it's going to make it so much easier for the agent to keep doing business with you. Hi, I'm Clementus Smith, and welcome back to the Sustainability Edge, the tourism podcast. No yargon, no fluff. We're breaking down sustainability and especially how to turn sustainability in a practical tool that gives you more profit, more time, stuff that's staying, and a business you can be proud of. Let's get started. Hello, hello, and welcome back to the podcast episode. And today we're diving so into something highly relevant at the moment, which will have major global impact, even though it is done or originating from the EU, and it even has dates on it, so it's very timely and sensitive. So there's uh this is recorded in 2026, and it will be live in May 2026, for if you're listening to this at any later time. So at the time you listen to this, it might already been implemented or not yet. But at the moment of recording, there's a lot of confusion about there are already some deadlines and why would you have to care about this even if you are not in the European Union at all? Companies from Africa, Asia, the Americas, Oceania. And there's almost already some kind of countdown going on, all because of some European greenwashing regulations that are applying to anyone working or having European clients. So to start with the straight, and don't worry if you forget this, it is about the empowering consumers for the green transition. Usually in short, people call it MPCO, will be very Dutch pronunciation, maybe, but E M P C O MPCO. Which basically will ban vague sustainability words. I mean, you've probably been on these websites where it's sustainability this, eco-friendly this, and you still have but how is it eco-friendly? Greenwashing is so big, and not everyone does it on purpose. Some do, some use sustainability as a marketing ploy. For others, they have the best intentions, they just don't know the words they are using, or they don't have the evidence ready. But in general, it is misleading a lot of customers at the moment, and that is then also the reason why the European Union is caring about this. They want to they have accepted this from the perspective of customer protection, that customers don't engage with services or with products that are misleadingly promoted as being sustainable, while in reality they are not. That is the whole reason why they are caring about this and why this is being pushed forward. So, one date that has already passed, the 27th of March 2026, EU member states had to adopt, and as far as I'm aware of also published, the national laws ready for these directives. So this MCO that I just mentioned that was created within the European Union and a deadline for any EU member state was to include this in their own national law by the 27th of March, or at least have a proposal. So this has already happened. So if you are in the EU member state, or if you work with a market that comes from a very specific EU country, this might already be Google, or your local contact might already know the specifics in your market or in your country. But now the next big date that actually matters is 27th of September, and that is closer than you think. This is actually when the enforcement is beginning. So we are now in this in-between period where the where EU member nations had to include this law or directive in a way that made sense in their own local national law. So they have some time to set this up and to make this work. But by the 27th of September, enforcement is beginning. So by then you can actually receive a fine or warnings or letters. And with you, to clarify, because there's a diverse audience listening, the ones receiving the fine are the EU member state countries. So now relating this to tourism and where it really shows that even if you are in Africa, Asia, America or wherever, it will still affect human tourism. It is highly likely that some of your clients come from Europe. And in this case, more specifically, from the European Union. If they come from the European Union, then you probably might have an agent there, which means you are supplying to the EU, you are supplying your agent when you are a DMC or accommodation, if the agent books at you directly, or even if you are an agent, only I mean in my case I see this often Tanzania, for example, if you are an accommodation in Tanzania, and even though almost all your bookings come directly from Tanzanian DMCs, then through them you end up being in the supply chain. So of course the European Union cannot find you. I mean, you're not part of the European Union, you will not receive a fine. But what if your agent does? What if you have an agent that William Marcus themselves, because they generally mean this, they generally believe in this, that they are sustainable, they are community-led, they use all the risky words, but they actually do the work, they actually mean it. Even if, for example, they would be certified by a credible scheme, if they have all the evidence themselves, but you don't, and you are the supplier on the ground, then technically that agent's business is not 100% able to verify that they can market themselves sustainable because you cannot give them the data they need. And this is where it becomes your business risk. Because if that agent then gets asked to verify the claims they make, and they say, Oh, because we work with DMCs on the ground that really care about this, that operate sustainably and this and this, but you have zero evidence and you cannot give them what they need, here becomes the risk, is your agent patient with you to help you make these changes, or will they find a partner that can immediately give them what they need? So here, and it's already happening, you could actually lose agents. Or once the awareness even grows for the direct customer, they will also become much more selective than they already are. So from the 27th of September, if an one of your agents in a EU membership state makes a claim about their business, about a service that you are supplying to them or providing to them, and they cannot prove anything about the sustainability of data, they become legally liable. So you become a liability to them. So this is why some of you already have received emails from agents, or why you might receive some later. They are protecting their own legal standing. Just like any business, they identify what supplier is a risk, with who can I work easily. Even if you have an established relationship, they would love to continue that one, of course. But if you cannot help them by 27th September or even afterwards, it's very unpredictable for them how they'll be found or what is going to happen, but they will probably not risk it, and that can does include cutting business ties with you. And at this point, I've already posted about this on LinkedIn, and it feels like I already said, even if you are in India or because I I just mentioned India because someone specifically commented from that country, a shout out to you if you listen in. From wherever you are outside of the European Union, if you just get customers from the continent, specifically from that union, or you have an agent there and you supply to them, then you are doing business with Europe. And then this does apply to you because your agent will find someone that makes their life easier if that's not gonna be you. And there's also a huge opportunity for you because probably in your destination there are tens, if not hundreds, of other accommodations and operators offering the same service and product that you do. And I already argued before the sustainability is the main thing that can help you set apart, and not just by saying, Oh, I'm sustainable too, because then you still get in the sea of sameness, but within sustainability, there are so many different areas you can have passion for or preference for. So even in sustainability, you can diversify hugely, but you can move yourself to the preferred partner list by becoming easy to do business with, which means that at this point it becomes almost an entry criteria, even if you are starting your business and are looking for European agents or business from Europe, it's becoming an entry criteria that you are serious about sustainability, that you have the data ready, and there are various ways to do so. Whether you are going to do reliable self-reporting, but then you need all the sheets, you need all the methodologies, or whether you follow a credible certification scheme, and now I'm really saying credible, because you're not the only one feeling this. Certification schemes are feeling this as well, because as you know, there are so many certification schemes, and they're not all the same. So a lot of certification schemes behind the closed doors are also working on their models to be compliant, because there's also several regulations going on about how these certifications operate and work to remain compliant. So if you already certified, you might see some difference there, or especially after this date, it'll be more visible which ones will help you the most and which ones not so much. Might have to become a whole separate episode. But for you now, you would need hard numbers. It is becoming a passport to enter business in the European Union, and by having, as they say a lot in the certification world, your evidence, your supporting evidence ready, it's going to make it so much easier for the agent to keep doing business with you. And we're talking about a lot here. I mean, it could it could vary from those resources we talked earlier about from water to electricity and so on, but also about community impact. Because even if you say you create a lot of community impact, what impact are you creating? There are so many communities in the world, there's so much you can do. You could help with lady products, you could help with education, but first of all, is it actually what the community is asking for? Or did you just assume this yourself? I mean, this is the whole point about greenwashing, it is so vague. It says something but nothing at the same time. This whole directive requires people to be much more specific, and when you are more specific, it'll be incredibly easy to come with the required evidence because sure means we helped this many people or we have done this much. You actually quantify, you put a number behind everything. But here again, if you now feel like, oh, we'll just say we're 90% sustainable, then they will still ask you, where did you get that number from? What is your calculation? So it's it might sound like an absolute nightmare, like, oh, why can't we just do these things anymore? But it is again out of customer protection because it is misleading to use this stuff if it's not true. So at this point in 2026, sustainability is a literal requirement for market access in the European Union. It will not be just a marketing ploy anymore, which it should never have been in the first place, but we know it's happening a lot. So, are you being a liability, a legal risk to your partner, or are you going to make business easy for them by starting to care about this? And here I highly, highly recommend do not wait for the 27th of September to realize that you've already been replaced. Because I we already see this, that especially that we see that partners are asking if in the example of Travel Life, for example, Travel Life has a partner stage, which is a recognition, not a formal certification. That quite some European agents that are already with Travel Life are asking their DMCs in their destinations to already start with that at least. Because the earlier to you start, the more time you have to make tests, to also fill and to try again. That's the whole benefit of starting and being early somewhere, right? You have much more time to learn how to embrace something and not to rush through it because rushing will only bring more trouble. Just as we see in tourism as well. So it would start with anything you claim, start measuring it. And what what I often see is that people actually measure, if we talk again about resources, that they measure the bills, the money, but prices change every time. You really have to measure the units that you use, so the amount liters of water, the amount of watts, the liters of gasoline. So again, really look at the actual resource wasted or used, or the kilograms of food or whatever, but do not necessarily look, I mean, also important for your own business, but in sustainability the bill, because pricing will change every time. So it two months could have the same price, but it doesn't change what I mean, it doesn't show you if behind the scenes the actual amount wasted doubled or didn't. So whether you start reporting yourself or start now to explore a credible certification scheme that could work for you, or if you now feel like I have no clue how to start with this, and you feel anxious about what's coming, you're not looking to lose your access to a European Union market, or you just entered, they actually want to be able that you get that you're being safe entering this space, then do reach out to me through LinkedIn or through any of the contacts in the show notes, or on the call, and we can discuss your exact situation, what your most logical next step would be when you're interested in pursuing sustainability certification, what one would be most working best for you, what one is credible. But do not wait. Because that we have explained in an earlier episode, the cost of waiting is much more expensive, and in terms of this episode, it would mean you probably might lose some agents which could collapse your business. So I mean I could restate the same point several times. I think I made my point. That's just gonna be for this episode. If you have any questions, feedback, concerns, reach out to me, would love to hear them. And I see you next time. Thank you for listening, and congratulations on investing your time today to think strategically about your future, to make sure you never miss a step to understand sustainability better, how to grow your competitive edge. Follow the podcast right now, and if this was helpful, please leave a five star rating. It will help other people like you to find these tools. I'm Samanda Smith, and I'll see you in the next episode.