Omnibus sustainability reporting law

Following an informal Council leadership meeting in November, the European Commission announced the intention to restructure three key sustainability regulations to reduce burdens on companies.

As part of the EU Green Deal, the EU adopted a series of legal instruments to oblige companies to report sustainability information. The first significant piece of legislation about the “omnibus” is the EU Taxonomy. The EU Taxonomy is a classification system that defines criteria for economic activities aligned with the EU’s climate targets and the broader environmental goals other than climate. The second piece of legislation about the “omnibus” is the CSRD, which modernises and strengthens the rules concerning the social and environmental information that companies have to report. According to the rumours, the final piece of legislation concerning the “omnibus” is the CSDDD, which aims to foster sustainable and responsible corporate behavior in companies’ operations and across their global value chains.

According to the EU Competitiveness Compass published on 29 January 2025, the Commission will deliver an unprecedented simplification effort. It is also highlighted that reporting burden reduction will start with the first of a series of Simplification Omnibus packages. The first Omnibus will, among others, cover a far-reaching simplification in the fields of sustainable finance reporting, sustainability due diligence and taxonomy. In line with the objectives of the sustainable finance framework to mobilize investment in the clean transition, the Commission aims to ensure a better alignment of the requirements with the needs of investors, proportionate timelines, financial metrics that do not discourage investments in smaller companies in transition, and obligations proportionate to the scale of activities of different companies. According to the tentative agenda for forthcoming Commission meetings released on 4 February 2025, the “First Omnibus Proposal” will be negotiated on 26 February 2025.