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JOINT PRESS RELEASE Scrutiny over “Omnibus” proposal grows as EU Ombudsman opens inquiry after NGOs’ complaint
23 May 2025, Brussels. Scrutiny over “Omnibus” proposal grows as EU Ombudsman opens inquiry after NGOs’ complaint.
NGOs have welcomed the EU Ombudsman’s decision to launch an inquiry into how the European Commission prepared its first ‘Omnibus Simplification Package,’ following a complaint they submitted.
The EU Ombudsman has announced today the opening of an inquiry into the Commission’s alleged non-compliance with its Better Regulation Guidelines in preparing the so-called Omnibus proposal. She will conduct an inspection of certain documents in the Commission’s file and meet with relevant Commission Staff before 18 June.
This follows a formal complaint submitted by a coalition of eight NGOs regarding the Commission’s flawed decision-making process underpinning the Omnibus Simplification Package which seeks to amend key corporate sustainability laws, such as the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD).
NGOs argue that the Commission bypassed a proper impact assessment and excluded broad public consultation, deviating from its own procedural standards established in the Better Regulation Guidelines, and breached the essential procedural requirement under the European Climate Law to conduct a climate consistency assessment. NGOs allege this constitutes maladministration.
The Commission broke its own rules. Rushing out sweeping changes without listening to the public or checking the climate impact is not how EU lawmaking is supposed to work.
Nele Meyer - Director of the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ)
ClientEarth, Anti-Slavery International, Clean Clothes Campaign, European Coalition for Corporate Justice, Friends of the Earth Europe, Global Witness, Notre Affaire À Tous and T&E said:
“This swift and decisive action by the EU Ombudsman underlines the importance of the issues raised in our complaint. The Commission’s rushed rollbacks of three key components of the Green Deal – including laws aimed at tackling the environmental and human costs of global value chains – has completely disregarded the rights of both people and the planet.”
NGOs have also pointed out the significant political implications of the Omnibus proposal. They added :
“Due to the absence of supporting evidence, stemming from the lack of impact assessments and from a process deeply tainted by corporate capture, the Commission is preventing policymakers in the Council and the European Parliament from being fully informed about the consequences of their votes on climate, the environment, human rights, and therefore the overall economy. This undermines the democratic legitimacy of the Commission and poses serious challenges to the rule of law.”
The EU Ombudsman’s decision is especially timely, as key discussions on the Omnibus package are scheduled to take place in COREPER this Friday.
The Omnibus proposal is a gift to corporate abusers and a betrayal of victims. It turns hard-won climate and human rights safeguards into empty paper promises. The Ombudsman’s inquiry is a chance to hit pause and rethink.
Nele Meyer - Director of the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ)
Notes to editors
Over the past months, NGOs, Trade Unions and businesses have actively opposed the European Commission’s “Omnibus” proposal. Several companies have urged the Commission to keep the current rules in place. The companies described investment and competitiveness as “founded on policy certainty and legal predictability.”
In February 2025, ECCJ and its network called the Omnibus proposal a disaster while ClientEarth’s lawyers criticised the proposal for significantly weakening corporate responsibility by limiting due diligence to direct business partners and diluting climate transition plan obligations. The proposal equally drew criticism for weakening corporate action addressing modern slavery in global supply chains. In response to the Omnibus proposal, more than 362 civil society organisations sent a joint statement urging the European Parliament and Council to reject the proposed amendments, emphasizing that they erode corporate accountability commitments and diminish human rights and environmental protections.
Despite these concerns, the Commission proceeded with the proposal, which is now under consideration by the European Parliament and the Council. In March, the Council agreed on the proposal to delay the implementation of the CSDDD, and on April 3, 2025, the European Parliament followed suit, granting lawmakers additional time to renegotiate the instrument.
As a result, a coalition of eight NGOs lodged a complaint with the European Ombudsman on April 18.
