This legal briefing provides a detailed overview of the purpose, requirements, timeline, and most importantly, key interactions between different sustainability laws that will apply to companies operating in the European Union.
Over the past few years, there have been a number of developments in sustainability legislation covering both social and environmental aspects of sustainability. While this has positioned the EU as a driving force in the sustainability transition, it has also raised questions from the business community concerned over the complexity or overlaps between certain legal requirements.
With this new resource, we aim to help businesses understand these obligations and support good and efficient implementation. The briefing is designed to help companies navigate legal requirements in different areas, including due diligence, emissions tracking, climate transition planning, and sustainability reporting. Additionally, the Annexes provide a legal summary of each of the 10 legislations*, including process and output requirements, as well as details of GHG accounting methods.
Following the EU Commission’s presentation of the Omnibus Simplification package, our analysis also includes a summary of changes proposed, as well as elements that are not expected to be modified by EU policy-makers.
*The guide covers the following: the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the EU Taxonomy, the European Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED), the European Batteries Regulations (EUBR), the European Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), the Conflict Minerals Regulation (CMR), and the Forced Labour Regulation (FLR).
This publication is part of a project funded by the European Climate Initiative (EUKI), which aims to support practical implementation of EU sustainability legislation by providing high-quality, publicly accessible research and expert guidance. To find out more, visit www.euki.de/en.
This spring, the European Commission's ETIP SNET platform released a study on the impact of energy communities on the grid. The analysis was followed up in August by the major pan-European CIGRE conference, where study authors discussed their findings with energy experts, including scientists and grid operators. They concluded that well-structured energy communities could benefit the grid if supported by the regulatory framework and other market participants.
The study on the sustainability disclosures of 100 influential companies from high-impact sectors provides an early reflection on the general readiness for businesses in the EU to meet the expectations of the upcoming EU sustainability rules and standards. Our report contributes to identifying the main challenges, as well as to highlight emerging good practices.
Thanks to legal support from the Frank Bold expert group, the Czech Neighborhood Association Uhelná, which has been opposing the adverse effects of mining at the Polish Turów mine, has achieved a significant milestone: at their initiative, the Czech Environmental Inspectorate (CEI) launched an investigation to assess whether mining activities at Turów are causing long-term water loss on the Czech side of the border. This is one of the first cases in which the Czech office has applied the Act on the Prevention of Ecological Damage. The Inspectorate has also included the Polish mining company PGE in the proceedings.
