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15 January 2020 The Authority for Competition and Market has imposed a penalty of 5 million euros on the company Eni SpA for the dissemination of misleading advertising messages used in the promotional campaign that concerned Eni Diesel + fuel, both in relation to the affirmation of the positive environmental impact connected to its use, which to the alleged characteristics of this fuel in terms of savings in consumption and reductions in gaseous emissions.

The deceitfulness of the messages stemmed primarily from the confusion between the product advertised EniDiesel + and its biodiesel component HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil), called by Eni '' Green Diesel '', attributing to the product as a whole environmental benefits that were not founded. The messages used the suggestion "Green Diesel", the qualifications "green component" and "renewable component", and other environmental protection claims, such as "it helps protect the environment". . And using it you do it too, thanks to a significant reduction in emissions '', although the product is a diesel fuel for transport which by its nature is highly polluting and cannot be considered "green".

Furthermore, some of the boasted product features, related to the reduction of gaseous emissions "up to 40%", CO2 emissions by 5% on average, and consumption "up to 4%", were not confirmed. from the preliminary results, as partial (for example, not for all gaseous emissions and not in all cases the reduction was 40% and, for consumption, the reduction was only minimally attributable to the HVO component named by Eni '' Green Diesel '') or not adequately contextualised (for example, it was not adequately clarified that the boast of a reduction in CO2 emissions related to the entire product cycle).

Finally, in the messages it was understood that the boasted improvement characteristics of the product - from which the nature of the product oriented towards environmental protection was erroneously understood - were to be attributed in a significant way to its component defined by Eni as `` Green Diesel '' , I also expect that it was not true. During the procedure, Eni started the interruption of the aforementioned press campaign and undertook to stop using the word "green" with reference to automotive fuels.

Eni: we will resort to the Lazio Tar
Eni learned "with great surprise" of the decision by the Competition and Market Authority to consider the environmental claims and some performance descriptions contained in the advertising messages relating to Eni Diesel + fuel "misleading" and consequently to sanction the Company. This is what is said in a note from the company that "reserves the right to evaluate the reasons for the provision for the purpose of its appeal to the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio".

In fact, Eni believes it has "illustrated during the procedure the reasons why the disputes brought by the Authority's Offices must be considered unfounded and that it has presented some decisive evidence which confirms the methodological and informative correctness of its commercial communication".

In the first place, as regards the issues raised regarding the characterization of the Diesel + product as "Green", Eni reiterates that "the distinctive feature of the Diesel + product is its HVO (Hydrotreated vegetable oil) component which, thanks to a revolutionary process of hydrogenation of oils plants, the result of research efforts and the innovative capacity of Eni laboratories, attributes to Diesel fuel + properties which are absolutely unique from an environmental point of view ".

"The chemical-physical characteristics of the bio-component HVO - continues the note - increase its compatibility with fossil diesel and allow Eni Diesel + fuel to be the only product available at national level containing 15% of renewable components, compared of the technical mixing limit of 7% (so-called blending wall), which characterizes the other fuels, and which, if exceeded, could compromise the same functioning of the vehicles.Furthermore, for the production of the HVO component, Eni uses only renewable bases certified as "sustainable" by the most authoritative certification schemes recognized at European level. And a renewable component is defined "sustainable" by the legislation only if it guarantees a reduction of climate-altering emissions (CO2) of at least 50% compared to the fossil component ".

"It is evident that the possibility of replacing the fossil component with a greater percentage of renewable component is in itself a solution capable of reducing the environmental impact of fuel. In the case of Eni Diesel + the reduction of emissions is has been quantified to the extent of 5%, adopting the "Well to Wheels" standard, ie a recognized methodology that the European Commission's Research Center (JRC) uses precisely to evaluate the CO2 emissions related to the fuel life cycle " always reads in the note. (AGI) Pit (Continued)

"The Authority - Eni reports - does not dispute these technical results but believes, in an entirely innovative way, that having undisputed results with less environmental impact than alternative products is not sufficient to boast the green value of the product, which in the perception of the consumer would have an absolute and not a relative meaning. Therefore it is not in dispute that Eni Diesel +, thanks to the HVO component, has better environmental performance than traditional fuels, but the expressive methods used and in particular the use of the term green are contested , with purely semantic arguments that Eni deems unsuitable ".

As for the findings on the performance descriptions of Eni's Diesel +, "the performance tests when using the vehicles were conducted by the most nationally accredited detection center, namely the CNR - Istituto Nazionale Motori, and these tests confirmed how Eni Diesel +, even when used by consumers, entails a significant reduction in consumption and polluting gaseous emissions measured at the exhaust, confirming that all the claimed benefits are effective and documented. In understanding therefore, given the novelty of the case subject to the procedure recognized by the Authority itself, the latter's meritorious interest in preventing the growing sensitivity of consumers to environmental issues from being instrumentally solicited for companies, products or services whose ecological contribution is ambiguous, minimal or even unproven, believes, however, that in the case of the Eni Diesel + product the Authority has who ariously wrong target. "