On February 26, the European Commission presented the so-called “Simplification Omnibus” to simplify EU regulations and increase competitiveness. The goal is to adapt the Green Deal’s guidelines in order not to endanger global competitiveness. The administrative effort is to be reduced by 25% by the end of the legislative period in 2029 and 35% for small and medium -sized companies (SMEs). 80% of companies are now to be excluded from the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) reporting light line. Instead, it would only apply to companies with 1,000 employees and annual sales of EUR 50 million. The reporting obligations for companies that currently fall into the scope of the CSRD and will have to report from 2026 or 2027 will be postponed by two years (until 2028).
The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) supply chain guideline is to be postponed by a year to July 26, 2028. The companies would only be obliged to take responsibility for their direct business partners. It should also not be checked every year but only every five years. SMEs should be relieved if they are part of the supply chain of large companies. According to calculations by the European Commission, administrative costs of 6.3 billion euros are to be saved annually and funds are released for additional public and private investments of EUR 50 billion to support political priorities. “Today we present our first comprehensive simplification proposal. The companies in the EU will benefit from streamlined rules for reporting on sustainable finances, duties of care and taxonomy. This makes life easier for the company, and at the same time we make sure that we stay on course during our emission mining goals. Further preliminary proposals will follow, ”Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is proposed. This must be done by the European
The Commission’s proposal must be confirmed by the EU Parliament and a qualified majority of the EU member states to be implemented.
