The ‘omnibus’ simplification package presented by the European Commission on Wednesday 26 February (see other news) has received a mixed reception from professional organisations and NGOs.
With this package, the Commission intends to limit the reporting obligations relating to sustainable finance, taxonomy, corporate environmental and human responsibility and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.
“The significant reduction in the volume of data to be collected, certified and published each year under the Corporate Sustainability Directive (CSRD) is a welcome measure”, said the European employers’ association BusinessEurope.
Environmentalists see the ‘omnibus’ package as an attack on environmental protection and human rights.
“Without binding due diligence obligations, companies will not live up to their responsibilities - as the disasters of recent years have sadly demonstrated”, said Franziska Humbert, from Oxfam Germany, commenting on the revision of corporate sustainability due diligence, which had not yet entered into force, and which is included in the ‘omnibus’ package.
According to Oxfam, “the removal of civil liability amounts to a loss of a hard-won legal remedy for victims, who would finally have been able to sue for years of human rights abuses”.
By reopening this legislation “without any impact assessment or proper consultation process”, the European Commission is even “undermining the democratic principles enshrined in the EU Treaties”, denounced the NGO ClientEarth.
The European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E) is also not happy about the two-year postponement of the requirements imposed on companies to declare their risks and impacts, as part of the amendments to the directive on corporate sustainability reporting. In its view, “a reduction in the scope of the law would lead to a lack of ESG information, making it very difficult for companies to assess their emissions throughout the value chain”. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)