More than 90 organisations representing civil society, business, banks and investor interests, express deep concern over the misrepresentation of EU sustainability reporting as a threat to competitiveness.
Our joint statement, published on 12 December, is a response to the recent omnibus proposal announcement by EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen.
The Commission has stated that scaling up sustainable finance is a major priority. Achieving that requires access to consistent and reliable information on businesses’ sustainability performance, enabling better transparency and comparability.
Sustainability reporting is a vital tool for businesses, enabling companies to manage risks, identify opportunities, and drive long-term growth. The statement highlights the flexible and proportional nature of the framework and offers practical solutions to address overcompliance challenges.
At a moment where European leaders are seeking to boost competitiveness and attract major financing to support companies’ sustainability transition, the EU sustainability reporting framework plays a key role in protecting the EU market and levelling the playing field with global players.
The statement signatories call on European and national policymakers to focus on supporting a smart and easy implementation of EU sustainability reporting standards, instead of playing ping-pong with the legal framework.
Read the full statement here: Smart implementation of EU sustainability reporting standards: make complying with rules easy
After three months of rushed decision-making, the European Commission presented its Omnibus Simplification Package and proposed major rollbacks to the EU’s corporate sustainability legislation, threatening to undermine Europe's leadership in sustainable business practices and ESG reporting.
With the latest leaks, it is becoming clearer and clearer that President Ursula von der Leyen and Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis are willing to sacrifice the very foundations of the EU’s ESG legislation all whilst bypassing the due legislative process.
The expert group Frank Bold, along with Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, has submitted a complaint to the European Commission regarding the actions of Czech authorities in setting emission limits for the Počerady coal power plant. In August 2024, a court revoked the plant's extensive emission limits derogation, and authorities were required to immediately reflect this decision in its operating permit. However, this has not yet happened. As a result, the power plant is currently violating the legal limit for mercury emissions. The complainants are calling on the Commission to investigate whether the Czech Republic’s approach to Počerady is in breach of the EU Industrial Emissions Directive (IED).
