The European Union Ecolabel as a Cross-Border Eco-Trustmark: Evidence from the Visegrad Countries

Abstract Consumers in the Visegrad (V4) countries are increasingly confronted with the European Union (EU) Ecolabel as a cross-border eco-trustmark in the single market. This study analyses how they perceive and use it. The aim is to assess awareness of the logo, trust in its environmental message, self-reported purchases of EU Ecolabel products and the importance of environmental impact in purchase decisions, with a particular focus on Slovakia. The analysis uses microdata from Flash Eurobarometer 535 for EU-27 residents aged 15 and over and applies official survey weights to produce descriptive country, V4 and EU-27 estimates, complemented by cross-tabulations for Slovakia. Among EU-27 consumers who recognise the EU Ecolabel, around three quarters (75%) say they trust its environmental claim and around two in five (38%) report that they buy products with the EU Ecolabel at least sometimes. In Slovakia, awareness is strongly associated with higher trust and more frequent purchases. The findings indicate that low awareness, rather than lack of trust, is the main barrier to wider use of the EU Ecolabel in Central Europe.