Omnibus directive: towards a historic weakening of ESG standards in Europe

A joint statement by several civil society organizations criticizing the European Commission's 'Omnibus' directive proposal for drastically reducing the scope and effectiveness of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which they claim prioritizes corporate profits over human rights and climate goals.

• The proposed 'Omnibus' directive significantly weakens the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) by excluding indirect business relationships from its scope, removing certain corrective measures, and undermining the substance of corporate climate transition plans. These changes are argued to reduce the duty of vigilance to a 'statement of intent' by limiting the ability to monitor, sanction, and hold companies civilly liable for misconduct.
• The proposal impacts the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) by reducing the number of covered companies by 80% to 85% and removing sector-specific standards. The authors claim this will result in the loss of essential information needed to direct financing toward a just climate transition, particularly regarding highly polluting sectors like the extractive industry.
• The authors attribute the deregulation initiative to the influence of large corporate lobbies, specifically naming MEDEF and FBF, as well as the rise of far-right policies within Member States and the European Parliament.

APA

Martin, L. (2025). Omnibus directive: towards a historic weakening of ESG standards in Europe. Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2025/02/26/omnibus-directive-towards-a-historic-weakening-of-esg-standards-in-europe/

Chicago

Martin, Léo. Omnibus directive: towards a historic weakening of ESG standards in Europe. Reclaim Finance, 2025. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2025/02/26/omnibus-directive-towards-a-historic-weakening-of-esg-standards-in-europe/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Martin |first1=Léo |title=Omnibus directive: towards a historic weakening of ESG standards in Europe |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=26 February 2025 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2025/02/26/omnibus-directive-towards-a-historic-weakening-of-esg-standards-in-europe/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{martin2025omnibus, author = {Martin, Léo}, title = {{Omnibus directive: towards a historic weakening of ESG standards in Europe}}, publisher = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2025}, month = feb, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/en/2025/02/26/omnibus-directive-towards-a-historic-weakening-of-esg-standards-in-europe/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }