The group of non-profits accuse the European Commission of failing to carry out proper consultations, or environmental and social impact assessments<\/p>\n
At a glance<\/p>\n
Seven non-governmental organisations have lodged a formal complaint with the European Ombudsman against the European Commission\u2019s omnibus proposal on the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and the EU Taxonomy Regulation<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
The NGOs say the proposal is rushed, not based on any proper public consultation or evidence of environmental and social impact assessments, and is primarily focused on narrow industry interests<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
ClientEarth hopes the outcome will improve future decision making by the commission, including upcoming omnibus proposals on other legislation<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
A coalition of seven non-governmental organisations has lodged a formal complaint with the European Ombudsman, accusing the European Commission of developing proposals to \u201csimplify\u201d EU sustainability reporting and due diligence rules in an \u201cundemocratic, untransparent and rushed way\u201d.<\/p>\n
The omnibus proposal<\/a> is aimed at changing the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and the EU\u2019s taxonomy regulation. The non-profits say the process leading to the proposal was \u201cdeeply flawed, enabling a small group of industry interests to take control and push for the deregulation of key sustainability laws\u201d.<\/p>\n The European Ombudsman has a mandate to investigate complaints about maladministration by EU institutions. The NGOs bringing the complaint are ClientEarth, Anti-Slavery International, the Clean Clothes Campaign, the European Coalition for Corporate Justice, Friends of the Earth Europe, Global Witness, Notre Affaire \u00e0 Tous, and Transport & Environment. <\/p>\n They say they are \u201ccontesting the commission\u2019s rushed dismantling of three key pillars of the Green Deal<\/a> \u2014 including laws meant to improve the environmental and human impacts of global trade\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe omnibus proposal was made without any public consultation, sidelining civil society, with a lack of evidence or environmental and social impact assessments, and with a primary focus on narrow industry interests,\u201d state the NGOs. <\/p>\n \u201cThis reckless move not only weakens sustainability rules but also damages public trust in the EU\u2019s democratic foundations.\u201d<\/p>\n More specifically, the NGOs accuse the commission of:<\/p>\n failing to gather evidence properly and assess the environmental and social impacts of amending corporate laws designed to protect citizens in the EU and beyond;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n sidestepping broad consultations and favouring closed-door meetings dominated by oil and gas industry interests;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n failing to assess whether its proposal aligns with the EU\u2019s climate-neutrality target, in breach of its obligations under the European Climate Law.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n While the commission has claimed the omnibus is in response to the Draghi competitiveness report<\/a> and is aimed at boosting the EU economy, the NGOs suggest it could have the opposite effect.<\/p>\n \u201cThis so-called simplification does nothing to enhance competitiveness; the European Commission is ignoring both evidence and science,\u201d say the non-profits. \u201cStrong sustainability laws like the CSDDD and CSRD are key to the EU\u2019s competitive advantage in a global market where consumers and investors increasingly demand responsible corporate action.\u201d <\/p>\n Influencing the future<\/p>\n A commission spokesperson told Sustainable Views that when the omnibus was launched it was \u201ca key pillar in our mission to build a more agile and competitive EU. It is designed to cut through complexity, fostering a seamless environment where businesses can flourish and our economies grow stronger\u201d. <\/p>\n They added: \u201cOur aim is to simplify our legislative framework without compromising on our core values of sustainability and social fairness, ensuring Europe remains a powerhouse of innovation and opportunity on the global stage.\u201d<\/p>\n This so-called simplification does nothing to enhance competitiveness; the commission is ignoring both evidence and science. Strong sustainability laws like the CSDDD and CSRD are key to the EU\u2019s competitive advantage in a global market where consumers and investors increasingly demand responsible corporate action<\/p>\n The spokesperson also insisted that the EU Green Deal \u201cretains its name and continues as our growth strategy to transform Europe into a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy with no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050\u201d. <\/p>\n The EU executive plans to launch similar omnibus proposals for other pieces of legislation. Its 2025 work programme includes an omnibus package on small mid-caps and the removal of paper requirements and simplification plans for the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation later this year.<\/p>\n In a press briefing, ClientEarth lawyer Amandine Van Den Berghe said she had a \u201cstrong feeling\u201d the complaint would generate an enquiry by the ombudsman. This would enable it to question the commission and request access to documents, such as those from closed-door meetings<\/a> with various industry and business groups in February. <\/p>\n She was also hopeful the outcome of the complaint could influence the procedure behind future proposals from the commission. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The group of non-profits accuse the European Commission of failing to carry out proper consultations, or environmental and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29012,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[2000,299,5187,14694],"class_list":{"0":"post-29011","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-european","11":"tag-policy-and-regulation"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114356437978608815","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n