Eurosif warns Omnibus proposals risk undermining investment and competitiveness
On 26 February, the European Commission published its first Omnibus sustainability simplification package, which proposes fundamental changes to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the delegated acts of the EU Taxonomy Regulation.
We are concerned that the amendments to CSRD and CSDDD, if adopted in the proposed form, will:
- Weaken EU sustainability disclosures.
- Undermine legal certainty for investors and corporates alike.
- Detrimentally impact the ability of investors to allocate capital for industrial decarbonisation, to conduct forward-looking risk assessments and to support the transition to sustainable growth.
- Go against the goals the EU Commission outlines in their Clean Industrial Deal and investment simplification omnibus.
- Damage the EU’s long-term competitiveness.
Nathalie Dogniez, Eurosif Chair, commented: “The Commission’s proposal to reopen the CSRD for renegotiation creates legal uncertainty for investors and businesses and harms the first movers who have already prepared their first sustainability reports or started working towards compliance. The ability of out-of-scope companies to raise finance is likely to be hindered.”
Aleksandra Palinska, Executive Director at Eurosif, said: “The proposal aims to reduce the number of in-scope companies by over 80%. Drastic changes to the scope of sustainability reporting rules will limit investor access to comparable and reliable sustainability data and impair their ability to scale-up investments for industrial decarbonisation and long-term growth. Voluntary reporting from companies will not fill this data gap.”
With the proposal now heading for negotiation in the European Parliament and Council of the EU, we call on EU co-legislators to uphold the ambition of the EU sustainable finance framework. We also stand ready to help find solutions for simplification of these rules, while preserving their integrity and ability to deliver on their objectives.
