CLECAT — 2025-06-13
News from Brussels
The European Parliament published this week the draft report on the proposal simplifying sustainability reporting and due diligence requirements, as part of the Omnibus I Package. The Rapporteur Jörgen Warborn (EPP, Sweden) proposes to further ease reporting requirements of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and the Taxonomy, while limiting the number of companies subject to mandatory reporting.
The draft report proposes to align and narrow the scope of the CSRD, CSDDD and the Taxonomy Regulation. The rapporteur recommends introducing a common threshold of €450 million in net turnover and 3,000 employees worldwide. This marks a significant shift from the Commission’s initial proposal for the CSRD, which included companies with more than 1,000 employees and a turnover above €50 million. The proposed changes would significantly reduce the number of companies falling within the scope, ensuring that the focus remains on large, globally active firms rather than SMEs. The rapporteur also proposes to delete the climate transition plans in the CSDDD and to make them voluntary under the CSRD, aligning them with global standards.
The proposal also calls for a full subsidiary exemption in the CSRD to prevent double reporting where a parent company already publishes group-wide sustainability data, to further reduce administrative burden, particularly for complex company structures. Furthermore, the proposal emphasises the need to expand the full harmonisation clause to prevent "gold plating" and ensure consistency across the EU regarding definitions, due diligence obligations, and scope. Lastly, the draft report includes measures to make the SME shield work in practice by limiting the data large companies can demand from out-of-scope companies. It also aims to strengthen the protection of trade secrets, ensuring that companies can safeguard sensitive business information to protect innovation and competitiveness.
The draft report will be presented and discussed within the JURI committee at the end of June. It is expected that the report will be voted by the JURI committee and in Plenary session in October 2025.