EU: Leaked draft Omnibus proposal is not simplification, but full-scale deregulation to dismantle corporate accountability, ECCJ says
"Not simplification, but full-scale deregulation designed to dismantle corporate accountability," 24 February 2025
The leaked draft Omnibus proposal represents a direct assault on the EU’s own sustainability framework, effectively dismantling key elements of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD)... If adopted as is, the proposed changes would amount to effectively bringing key elements of the European Green Deal to an end...
The Omnibus will gut the CSDDD at its core
The proposal severely limits a company's due diligence duty by focusing on direct business partners (so-called "first tier") and limiting it for those with fewer than 500 employees... Climate obligations are also reduced to little more than greenwashing, as the draft proposal eliminates the obligation to implement climate transition plans...
The crucial requirement for Member States to ensure civil liability for due diligence failures has been removed, as has the right of victims to be represented by NGOs, trade unions, and national human rights institutions in court in cases where they have insufficient means to represent themselves.
These regressions now set the EU's standards lower than existing voluntary international frameworks, such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and the OECD Guidelines, rendering the CSDDD to a tick-box exercise in contradiction of its original objective to put into practice international responsible business standards.
Most companies excluded from the scope of CSRD
For the CSRD, the proposal drastically narrows the scope of companies covered, raising the threshold from 250 to 1,000 employees, and significantly weakens reporting requirements under the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). Sector-specific standards have also been scrapped. This is a drastic step backwards for transparency, which would prevent investors from directing investments into sustainable activities and companies...
The European Coalition for Corporate Justice firmly rejects this proposal
...We join our voice to that of other civil society organisations, trade unions, investors and businesses involved in sustainability efforts, as well as citizens within the EU and beyond, prominent legal experts in the business and human rights sector and scholars in calling the College of Commissioners to oppose this proposal...