BRUSSELS — EU institutions can no longer continue tense talks on new rules to combat corporate greenwashing after Italy decided to withdraw its support for the bill.

The decision means a landmark EU law clamping down on companies making misleading environmental claims is all but dead.

“We have been instructed to communicate to you that Italy does not support the adoption of the proposal and supports a withdrawal of it by the Commission,” Italy told the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU over the weekend, in a text seen by POLITICO.

Tiemo Wölken, a German socialist MEP coordinating talks for the Parliament, said Italy had been “supportive of the file,” but withdrew support after a confusing series of announcements from the European Commission, which signaled it would withdraw its proposal on Friday.

Italy’s move means that the Polish Presidency, which runs the negotiations on behalf of EU countries, no longer has enough support from EU governments to push ahead in the negotiations.

On Sunday evening, POLITICO reported that the negotiations — which were due to continue on Monday — had been paused because of “too many doubts” and a lack of clarity on the European Commission’s intentions.

The European Commission said it would scrap the proposed Green Claims Directive because it does not agree with a decision to include micro-enterprises in the scope of the rules. The law would require companies to provide evidence to back up any environmental claims they make.

The news immediately sparked confusion among EU diplomats and lawmakers, who said it was unclear whether this meant that the Commission would continue negotiations or not.

On Monday, the Commission denied that it planned on withdrawing the proposal before the final round of talks with MEPs and with EU countries.

A spokesperson for the Italian government did not respond at time of publication.