The publication by the European Commission of its Omnibus proposal revising key corporate sustainability laws sends a clear political signal: President Ursula von der Leyen is deprioritising human rights, workers’ rights and environmental protections for the sake of dangerous deregulation.
When President Ursula von der Leyen announced late last year an Omnibus proposal to simplify reporting and sustainability requirements for companies, she committed to upholding in full the spirit and “content of the law,” and stated that the goal of the exercise was to reduce overlapping obligations. The proposal published on 26 February represents a stark departure from this promise and, if implemented, will wipe-out the core purpose of these laws.
The Omnibus proposal would axe many of the CSDDD’s key provisions, making it virtually toothless
If implemented, in practice this could result in:
- Civil liability will to a much larger extent be left to EU Member States’ discretion, with the
potential of drastically reducing access to justice for victims in front of EU courts. - Companies will only be required to assess harms attributable to direct business partners, which reduces drastically the value chain.
- There is no longer an obligation to “put […] into effect” Climate Transition Plans, which would introduce a dangerous loophole, allowing companies to comply with the provision, in theory, by simply producing a plan on paper, rather than putting it into action.
- EU Member States would no longer be able to establish more ambitious rules than the directive.
- Companies will no longer have to terminate contracts (even in cases where it is possible or likely that abuses continue).
- Stakeholder engagement will be reduced to those “directly” affected.
- The frequency of monitoring the effectiveness of due diligence measures is reduced from every year to every 5 years.
- Removal of the minimum cap on sanctions of 5% of the turnover.
- The Commission is no longer obliged to examine the necessity to apply due diligence rules.
“Omnibus is a roadmap to perpetuating corporate impunity. This proposal guts corporate due diligence, turning it into a hollow box-ticking exercise while stripping victims of their right to justice. The message from Brussels couldn’t be clearer: industry interests come first, while people and the planet are left behind. Today, hundreds of civil society organisations around the world are standing up—no to deregulation, no to greenwashing, and no to this reckless rollback of corporate accountability.”
Marion Lupin, policy officer at European Coalition for Corporate Justice
