Omnibus I: CS3D, CSRD and taxonomy – a BusinessEurope position paper

General remarks

The European Commission has launched what it calls an “unprecedented simplification effort” to reduce unnecessary regulatory costs and burdens for European companies. The European business community calls on decision makers to work towards this objective and make the European marketplace more competitive as rapidly and effectively as possible.

BusinessEurope has made 68 concrete proposals on how to address the most pressing regulatory burdens in 11 policy areas. These proposals are designed in a way that will allow to achieve the EU policy objectives without disincentivising investments needed to make Europe more resilient, sustainable and digital. We trust these proposals can contribute to a wide-reaching regulatory burden reduction programme with a clear target and timeline.

The publication of the first Omnibus covering the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D), the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Taxonomy Regulation is an important first step towards the ambition to achieve a reduction in regulatory burden. During the implementation of CSRD and Taxonomy, we have repeatedly stressed that these place a disproportionate burden on companies, draining excessive resources and efforts away from the work on the actual green and digital transition. We have also consistently raised concerns about key provisions of the recently adopted CS3D. Decisive regulatory burden reduction efforts on these three EU legislations are therefore critical.

In this light, BusinessEurope welcomes the recent approval by the European Parliament and Council of the EU on the “stop-the-clock” proposal as a means to address some of these challenges. We also appreciate the Commission’s work towards finding a quick solution to the issues affecting wave 1 companies so that there is minimum uncertainty on the way forward. Crucial for these proposed amendments to make a real impact in achieving the objectives of the legislation is the timely and
uniform transposition by Member States, in particular of the “stop-the-clock” proposal (soon to be in force). We also welcome the proposal by the Commission to bring forward the publication deadline for the Commission Guidelines on CS3D.

Member States’ authorities and businesses alike require a genuine ‘‘implementation period’’ to provide stability, predictability and ample time for businesses to understand, adjust, succeed and compete. Despite these positive steps, the Commission’s proposal falls short on some key parameters. This paper outlines those outstanding problems and proposes concrete solutions.