On Tuesday 1 April, the Members of the European Parliament approved the use of the urgent procedure to adopt their position on the directive known as ‘Stop the clock’ from the ‘omnibus’ simplification package (427 votes in favour, 221 against and 14 abstentions).
A majority was reached despite the refusal of the S&D to lend its support, due to the absence of a wider agreement with the EPP, Renew Europe and Greens/EFA groups on the ‘omnibus’ package. The text, which will be put to the vote on Thursday 3 April, postpones the directive on corporate due diligence by one year, and the directive on corporate sustainability reporting by two years. Following Thursday’s vote, negotiators from the European Parliament and EU Council will rapidly begin discussions with a view to adopting the directive.
This stage in the negotiations between the two institutions could be avoided, however, if the European Parliament aligns itself with the Commission and the EU Council, by adopting the proposal as it stands, without amendment.
This is precisely what the EPP, S&D, Renew Europe and Greens/EFA groups have been discussing for several days (see EUROPE 13610/17). So far, however, they have failed to agree on the terms of a deal. This is why the S&D voted against the urgent procedure, in protest at the EPP’s proposal to speed up the work.
The main reason for this was the lack of common ground between the S&D and the EPP on the latter’s commitment not to vote on amendments with the far right on ‘omnibus’ texts.
All is not lost, however, according to several elected representatives. According to the Chair of the Renew Europe group, Valérie Hayer of France, an agreement can still be reached for the four groups to vote together on Thursday on the ‘Stop the clock’ directive. Gabriele Bischoff (S&D, German) said that the door was always open for discussions.
For the Social Democrat Group, it is a question of doing everything possible to avoid seeing amendments adopted that would further postpone the date of application of the CSDDD and CSRD directives.
The political groups have until 1pm on Wednesday 2 April to table amendments to the ‘Stop the Clock’ Directive. Some, such as ECR and The Left, have already announced their intention to do so. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal with the editorial staff)