Since the EC announced its intention of an Omnibus Package that would ‘streamline’ legislation and enhance European competitiveness in January, civil society has anticipated its proposal with great concern.

The first part of this package, Omnibus I, targets the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and the EU Taxonomy. It stands accused of dismantling core elements of these key pillars of the Green Deal and responsible business practices instead of improving clarity.

Faustine Bas-Defossez, director for nature, health and environment at the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), a network of environmental citizens’ organisations, said: "It is now clear that ‘simplification’ is just a Trojan horse for aggressive deregulation. The Omnibus Simplification Package isn’t just an attack on corporate environmental accountability, it’s a blow to democracy. In just four months, the Commission has rewritten agreed EU rules without any democratic process, impact assessment, or consultation. All without a shred of evidence that these yet-to-be-implemented rules would harm competitiveness. What this package does create, however, is legal uncertainty, rewarding laggards while penalising companies that were moving early to monitor and report their environmental impact."

The EEB also believe that the proposal will weaken corporate due diligence below international standards, scrapping mandatory civil liability and limiting enforcement. Furthermore, NGOs and civil society will be barred from filing representative lawsuits, forcing victims of corporate abuse to navigate complex legal systems alone. The Commission also proposes removing the minimum 5 per cent net worldwide turnover penalty, leaving sanction enforcement to EU states.

Due diligence will now be limited to direct suppliers, ignoring risks across entire supply chains unless companies already have reliable information. Small suppliers (under 500 employees) are exempt entirely.

Requirements for corporate transition plans have been reduced, with no clear milestones, science-based targets, or key decarbonisation actions which companies must take.

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