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
Mario Draghi insisted this week that his now-infamous report on European competitiveness was not an invitation for lawmakers to row back on climate policy.
The former president of the European Central Bank told the Italian senate that the EU’s strategy should continue to be based around decarbonisation.
The ‘Draghi report’, as it has become known, was commissioned by Ursula von der Leyen to help shed light on how Europe could claw back some of it competitiveness on the global stage, and strengthen its flagging economy.
Published last summer, it urged the European Commission to deal with energy prices and reporting requirements, both of which disadvantaged firms within the bloc compared with those elsewhere.
The report has been cited by numerous politicians and business associations since, as evidence that the EU Green Deal and its associated climate rules are harming the European economy.
But, during a Q&A session conducted in Italian this week, Draghi insisted he never said European policymakers should put the brakes on the region’s green agenda.
“My report is not aligned with the argument of those who say stop,” he said, according to Riccardo Sallustio, a professor of sustainable finance at Luiss Guido Carli University in Italy.
UN says omnibus undermines UNGPs
The UN’s Working Group on Business and Human Rights also weighed in this week, saying the proposed omnibus “does not align with the UN Guiding Principles of Business and Human Rights”.
“Rather than advancing efforts to promote responsible business and accountability, it risks diluting existing EU standards that have made the EU a leader in business and human rights,” the experts said in a statement published on the website of the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights.
Another Council meeting
European Council met again this week to discuss the omnibus proposal, urging co-legislators to finalise any delays and substantive changes to the laws “as a matter of priority and with a high level of ambition”.
In an official summary of the meeting, published on Thursday, Member States called for an agreement on all changes “as soon as possible in 2025”.
It wants the ‘stop-the-clock’ proposal agreed by June at the latest.
SMEs
The Commission’s advisory body has proposed a new voluntary reporting standard to help financial institutions classify their loans and investments for SMEs.
The Platform on Sustainable Finance will present the framework, which will start with climate and broaden to other objectives over time, on Thursday.
“The standard allows SMEs to disclose to their financiers their key performance indicators and demonstrate their climate‑related efforts, making it easier for financial institutions to assess and support them, including through an online tool that is suited to SMEs’ needs and capabilities,” the Platform said.