The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group welcomes the European Parliament’s approval of the Omnibus I simplification package, which significantly reduces sustainability reporting and due diligence obligations for European businesses and marks an important step towards restoring competitiveness.

The revised rules sharply reduce the number of companies covered by the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), lifting regulatory pressure from more than 80 per cent of firms previously in scope. Mandatory reporting will now apply only to the largest companies, while due diligence obligations will be limited to very large corporations.

ECR Co-Chairman Nicola Procaccini said:

“With the adoption of the Omnibus package, Parliament has moved closer to the approach the ECR Group has consistently advocated. The revised rules on sustainability reporting and due diligence bring a much needed return to common sense. Less bureaucracy, more competitiveness and greater freedom for businesses. By removing redundant obligations, postponing unrealistic deadlines and eliminating the damaging Article 22 on climate transition plans, Europe’s companies will face less paperwork and have more resources to invest, innovate and create jobs.”

ECR Co-Chairman Patryk Jaki said:

“It is somewhat ironic to see those who spent years expanding ideological regulation now presenting themselves as champions of simplification. Much of the red tape being cut today was created by the same political forces that insisted it was necessary. The lesson should be obvious. Europe needs fewer rushed, dogmatic regulations, not constant course corrections once the damage to businesses has already been done.”

ECR Shadow Rapporteur and Coordinator in the Legal Affairs Committee, Tobiasz Bocheński, said:

“The package adopted by parliament today is only a small step in the right direction. Deregulation should be deep and genuine. Thanks to the ECR, many bad and harmful ideas were removed from existing legislation. During the negotiations, both the Commission and the Council showed a lack of understanding of the need for a profound reform of bureaucracy in the Union. This does not bode well for the future.”

The Omnibus I package simplifies sustainability reporting requirements, prevents large companies from shifting compliance burdens onto smaller partners and removes several far-reaching obligations that would have weakened Europe’s industrial base.

For the ECR Group, today’s vote is an important though overdue correction and a clear signal that competitiveness, proportionality and common sense must once again guide EU legislation.