EN
JOINT STATEMENT The big EU deregulation. Disastrous Omnibus proposal erodes EU’s corporate accountability commitments and slashes human rights and environmental protections
Due diligence Publication
March 10th, 2025
by Over 360 EU and non-EU civil society organisations
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The publication by the European Commission of its Omnibus proposal revising key corporate
sustainability laws sends a clear political signal: President Ursula von der Leyen is deprioritising human rights, workers’ rights and environmental protections for the sake of dangerous deregulation.

When President Ursula von der Leyen announced late last year an Omnibus proposal to simplify reporting and sustainability requirements for companies, she committed to upholding in full the spirit and “content of the law,” and stated that the goal of the exercise was to reduce overlapping obligations. The proposal published on 26 February represents a stark departure from this promise and, if implemented, will wipe-out the core purpose of these laws.

The Omnibus proposal would axe many of the CSDDD’s key provisions, making it virtually toothless

If implemented, in practice this could result in:

  • Civil liability will to a much larger extent be left to EU Member States’ discretion, with the
    potential of drastically reducing access to justice for victims in front of EU courts.
  • Companies will only be required to assess harms attributable to direct business partners,
    which reduces drastically the value chain.
  • There is no longer an obligation to “put […] into effect” Climate Transition Plans, which
    would introduce a dangerous loophole, allowing companies to comply with the provision, in theory, by simply producing a plan on paper, rather than putting it into action.
  • EU Member States would no longer be able to establish more ambitious rules than the
    directive.
  • Companies will no longer have to terminate contracts (even in cases where it is possible or likely that abuses continue).
  • Stakeholder engagement will be reduced to those “directly” affected.
  • The frequency of monitoring the effectiveness of due diligence measures is reduced from every year to every 5 years.
  • Removal of the minimum cap on sanctions of 5% of the turnover.
  • The Commission is no longer obliged to examine the necessity to apply due diligence rules.
"Omnibus is a roadmap to perpetuating corporate impunity. This proposal guts corporate due diligence, turning it into a hollow box-ticking exercise while stripping victims of their right to justice. The message from Brussels couldn’t be clearer: industry interests come first, while people and the planet are left behind. Today, hundreds of civil society organisations around the world are standing up—no to deregulation, no to greenwashing, and no to this reckless rollback of corporate accountability."
Marion Lupin, policy officer at ECCJ

List of countries represented

  1. Austria
  2. Bangladesh
  3. Belgium
  4. Bolivia
  5. Brazil
  6. Bulgaria
  7. Canada
  8. Chile
  9. Colombia
  10. Conakry-Guinea
  11. Costa Rica
  12. Cyprus
  13. Czechia
  14. Denmark
  15. Ecuador
  16. Estonia
  17. Finland
  18. France
  19. Georgia
  20. Germany
  21. Guatemala
  22. Honduras
  23. India
  24. Indonesia
  25. Ireland
  26. Italia
  27. Japan
  28. Kenya
  29. Kyrgyz Republic
  30. Luxembourg
  31. Mauritania
  32. México
  33. Moldova
  34. Netherlands
  35. Norway
  36. Pakistan
  37. Perú
  38. Philippines
  39. Poland
  40. Portugal
  41. Senegal
  42. Serbia
  43. Slovenia
  44. South Africa
  45. South Korea
  46. Spain
  47. Sweden
  48. Switzerland
  49. Taiwan
  50. Turkey
  51. Uganda
  52. United Kingdom
  53. United State

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