Environmental concerns over simplifying green compliance rules

30 January 2025

European Union, 2023 – Source: EP – Laia Ros

Ahead of her re-election, European Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen promised to reduce reporting requirements by at least 25%, in the first half of 2025, in her bid to reduce red-tape. Politico reported that yesterday, she introduced a package containing multiple measures, including lowering the requirements of the EU’s green regulations. The stated goal is to allow companies to focus more on growth, innovation, and competitiveness.

Protecting the environment and fighting climate change is one of SAFE’s pillars. SAFE is deeply concerned that simplifying environmental regulations will lower standards and undermine the European Green Deal.

The package targets two key laws of the European Green Deal: the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). These laws require businesses of all sizes to collect and publish data on their greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, the impact of rising temperatures on working conditions, chemical leaks, and whether their suppliers respect human rights and labour laws. The package will also review the EU Taxonomy, a classification system defining which economic activities are considered green by EU standards, introduced in the last mandate.

Mid-sized companies have complained about the financial burden of compliance, and many influential groups want the commission to go further than the proposed omnibus package.

Lawmakers from the Greens in the EU Parliament believe that altering the recently adopted EU reporting framework would create more legal uncertainty. Companies like Nestlé and Primark have also warned that the package risks undermining policy certainty and legal predictability, which are crucial for competitiveness and investment.