This week’s EU Omnibus developments
A rundown of who is saying what this week, and what more we know about plans to revise Europe’s sustainability rules
Brussels is reawakening after the usual August break to new opposition to its EU Omnibus.
Nearly 500 organisations, including 87 companies, have now signed up to a statement urging lawmakers not to unravel the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D).
Acciona, Decathlon, EDF, Fortum, H&M, IKEA, L’Occitane, Nestlé, Nokia and Vattenfall are among the non-financial firms supporting the statement, which was first published in July.
It makes a number of requests, including that the CSRD should apply to companies with more than 500 employees and retain its focus on double materiality, with more flexibility around the exchange of value-chain information.
Anke Ehlers, managing director for international sustainability at supermarket chain Aldi South Group, said it “supports strong and harmonised EU sustainability rules, which is why it is vital that the core of the CSRD and CS3D is preserved”.
“Sustainability rules are not red tape,” she added. “They are the foundation for long-term competitiveness and for the transition to a sustainable, thriving economy.”
Carine de Boissezon, chief impact officer at French energy giant EDF, said the Green Deal had put the EU “ten years ahead in the green industrial revolution”.
“Where there is room for smart simplification, let’s tweak the regulation, but we need to stay the course and be proud of it,” she said. “To assert our leadership, our standards, our vision. If not us, who? If not now, when?”
Vattenfall’s vice president of sustainability, Annika Ramsköld, chimed in by explaining that the Nordic energy firm had “chosen a sustainable business model not because someone tells us to do it, but because it will make us competitive in the future”.
“Not everyone has realised this yet, but this is all about Europe’s competitiveness. We need a stable and predictable political framework that promotes transparency and enables companies to identify their risks and opportunities that will make us competitive not only now but also in the future.”
The update comes a few weeks after the President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, reiterated a warning that supervisors need the information generated by the CSRD to help them manage sustainability-related risks – particularly from climate.
Real Economy Progress wrote more about that letter and what it means here.
The companies that signed up to this week’s statement also insisted that credible climate transition plans must stay a requirement under CS3D – something the Roundtable on Climate Change and Sustainable Transition (ERCST) argued against.
The pro-business lobby group said the obligation to adopt plans that are compatible with a 1.5°C trajectory is “inappropriate” and introduces “legal uncertainty” for companies.
The private sector can contribute to this goal, it said in a paper published this week, but shouldn’t have to pursue it.
ERCST added that allowing EU supervisors to assess the credibility of transition plans could result in “interference with companies’ strategic autonomy”.
Beyond transition plans, the paper complained that CS3D was at risk of overreaching its remit by applying to non-EU companies.
REP wrote last week about the EU’s apparent promise to bow to the US when it comes to the future reach of the directive.