Weakening the EU’s sustainability rules risks damaging competitiveness and growth warn companies and investors

• With the European Parliament and Council considering changes to the EU’s sustainability framework that would significantly weaken the rules compared to the Commission’s Omnibus I proposal, 194 organisations, including over 150 businesses and investors are urging EU policymakers to protect the core of the sustainability rules. 
• A joint statement issued on Tuesday 1st July outlines pragmatic recommendations for policymakers to simplify reporting requirements while preserving their integrity, with the framework described as “essential to achieve the EU’s wider sustainability, growth and competitiveness ambitions.”
• This statement is endorsed by coordinating organisations including Eurosif, the European Sustainable Investment Forum; Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC); Principles for Responsible Investments (PRI); Corporate Leaders Group Europe (CLG Europe); Global Reporting Initiative (GRI); and climate think tank E3G, and has been sent to policymakers as the EU Parliament looks to finalise its position on the Omnibus I proposal and ahead of inter-institutional negotiations. 
• Signatories include French energy multinational EDF, Dutch multinational Signify, parent company of the Swedish IKEA franchise the Ingka Group, UK based European energy company Vattenfall, Finnish telecommunications multinational Nokia, global insurer and asset manager Allianz, French asset manager La Banque Postale Asset Management, Finnish financial services firm Nordea, and Dutch ethical bank Triodos Bank. 

Tuesday 01 July 2025: 194 signatories, among which over 150* are businesses and investors, including 80* investors and financial institutions, 29* companies and 42* service providers, as well as 43* other supporting organisations, have backed a joint statement calling on EU policymakers to preserve the core of the EU sustainability framework. 

The joint statement signed by businesses and investors – the implementers and end-users of this framework – warns that maintaining the core elements of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) is critical for reorienting capital flows towards future-facing technologies and sectors, in line with the goals of the Clean Industrial Deal.

The statement argues that, "By promoting transparency and responsible business conduct, these rules are conducive to competitiveness and growth, as well as long-term value creation and subsequent returns for investors. Companies that implement EU sustainability rules are likely to be more resilient, better prepared for sustainability-related challenges and opportunities, and more capable of communicating these factors to investors and other financial stakeholders."

"Responsible businesses and investors need a clear and stable policy environment to contribute to the EU's goals for a competitive and sustainable economy. Retaining the core elements of the EU sustainable finance rules […] is necessary for providing the transparency and certainty needed to achieve growth whilst supporting decarbonisation," it warns. 

As the Parliament works towards finalising its position on the Omnibus I proposal ahead of inter-institutional negotiations, the joint statement calls on policymakers to aim for targeted simplification that will help ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of EU rules while safeguarding the following: 

• Double materiality reporting across all Environmental, Social and Governance topics and ensuring interoperability with international standards and frameworks including GRI, ISSB and TNFD.
• A meaningful CSRD scope covering companies with 500+ employees
• Flexibility in value chain information exchange beyond the value chain cap that would limit information to a VSME standard, which is not adapted and was designed for micro-companies and SMEs.
• A requirement to adopt and implement credible climate transition plans, and
• Risk-based due diligence under the CSDDD. 

Carine de Boissezon, Chief Impact Officer at EDF, a French multinational electric utility company and joint statement signatory said:  "The EU, thanks to the Green Deal, is ten years ahead in the green industrial revolution. What is at stake is our health, the competitiveness of our businesses, our well-being and our sovereignty. Where there is room for smart simplification, let's tweak the regulation, but we need to stay the course and be proud of it to assert our leadership, our standards, our vision. If not us, who? If not now, when? When there is a will, there is a way!" 

Alice K. Steenland, Chief of Strategy, Sustainability and Marketing, at Signify, a multinational lighting manufacturer behind, among others, the Philips brand and one of the signatories to the joint statement said: “At Signify, we are committed to ensuring that the transformative power of light contributes positively to the environment around us. That’s why we’ve joined others in urging the EU to preserve the integrity of its sustainable finance framework – a vital structure for driving accountability and accelerating action on climate. One year after launching our Climate Transition Plan, we are making strong progress and remain committed to leading by example."

Günther Thallinger, Member of the Board of Management of Allianz SE, Investment Management, Sustainability said: “A strong Sustainable Finance framework is essential for global investors. It supports the shift to a sustainable economy and helps deliver the EU Green Deal. We support simplifying the CSRD and CSDDD. At the same time, it’s important to keep the key rules. These ensure companies provide complete and reliable data for investment decisions and transformative actions. Companies must still have a climate transition plan. Companies must take steps in line with the Paris Agreement’s decarbonization goals. We can achieve effective reporting in an efficient manner.”

Tsvetelina Kuzmanova, EU Sustainable Finance Policy Lead at the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), said: “The current political trajectory in Brussels, especially in the European Parliament, risks taking us at least a decade backwards. The proposed changes fall below the standards already adopted by leading companies and investors, undermining the progress made in aligning sustainability with business strategy. The promised competitiveness compass is starting to look like swapping GPS for a paper map. What businesses require are forward-looking rules that reflect market realities, support innovation, and strengthen Europe’s global competitiveness.”

Aleksandra Palinska, Executive Director of Eurosif, said:  “Drastic changes to the scope of sustainability reporting rules will limit investor access to comparable and reliable sustainability data and impair their ability to scale-up investments for industrial decarbonisation and long-term growth.”

Jurei Yada, Director and Head of EU Sustainable Finance at E3G, said: “Businesses and investors are showing the competitive advantages of sustainability reporting, transition planning and utilizing the EU sustainable finance framework in practice. These perspectives have not sufficiently been reflected in the positions taken by the Council and in Parliament. There is time to correct that and preserve the advantages we have painstakingly built in the EU - let’s not squander that.”

Robin Hodess, CEO of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) said: “The core ambition of the CSRD remains critical, providing the basis for high-quality impact reporting. Meaningful reporting in turn enables a sustainable and competitive EU economy. We urge European policymakers and politicians to heed the call of the leading businesses, investors and other organizations signing this letter”

Nathan Fabian, Chief Sustainable Systems Officer at Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) said: "Further rollbacks on the scope and implementation of EU sustainable finance and transition plan rules risk creating legal uncertainty, data gaps and increased transaction costs for investors and companies. While simplification is welcome, we are concerned that recent positions in the EU Council and Parliament could deprive investors of the vital information they would need to effectively allocate capital towards the EU’s economic objectives".

Emily Murrell, Policy Director at IIGCC, said: "Access to timely, high-quality reporting to guide investor decisions can be a key competitive advantage of operating in the EU. We do not want to see this lost in the face of a pressing investment gap of EUR 750-800 billion by 2030 which is needed for the transition to a net zero and energy secure economy. "

The position being considered by the Parliament and the agreement adopted by the  Council could see even more drastic limits put on the provisions of the CRSD and CSDDD compared to the Commission’s Omnibus I proposal. 

The Council’s agreement suggests limiting the CSRD requirement for sustainability reporting to companies with more than 1,000 employees and €450 million in net turnover (which would cover just 11,700 European companies according to calculations by Accountancy Europe), as opposed to the original scope of CSRD covering 43,000 companies. The Parliament is considering raising the threshold to companies with over 3,000 employees and €450 million in net turnover, which would leave just 3,000 companies in scope. 

The Council’s agreement also states that only companies with over 5000 employees and €1.5 billion in turnover should be required to conduct due diligence for environmental and human rights abuses, covering around only 1,000 companies, while the Parliament is considering putting the limits on companies with over 3000 employees and €450 million in turnover. 

The Parliament’s draft report is proposing that climate transition plans be made voluntary, while the Council is proposing wording that weakens the alignment of transition plans with the Paris Agreement climate targets and removes the obligation to implement these plans. 

As the joint statement warns, the value chain cap that is being proposed by the Commission and maintained by the Parliament’s draft report would prevent constructive exchange of information between investors and companies. 

This statement is endorsed by coordinating organisations including Eurosif, the European Sustainable Investment Forum; Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC); Principles for Responsible Investments (PRI); Corporate Leaders Group Europe (CLG Europe); Global Reporting Initiative (GRI); and climate think tank E3G.

Signatories include French energy multinational EDF, Dutch multinational Signify, parent company of the Swedish IKEA franchise the Ingka Group, UK based European energy company Vattenfall, Finnish telecommunications multinational Nokia, insurer and asset manager Allianz, French asset manager La Banque Postale Asset Management, Finnish financial services firm Nordea, and Dutch ethical bank Triodos Bank. 

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors:

• The full joint statement can be read here
• The statement will be published here  
• *Please note that the numbers of signatories mentioned above are correct as of Monday 30th June. Sign-ons are still open until Friday 29 August COB.
• This statement was developed in collaboration between the coordinating organisations and their members, but does not necessarily represent the views of their entire memberships, either individually or collectively.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Ines Lefebvre du Prey

ines@89up.org

+44 7949 650966

Saskia Kerkvliet

saskia@89up.org

+447708977145

About Corporate Leaders Group Europe

CLG Europe (Corporate Leaders Group) brings together business leaders committed to supporting the transformation to competitive, sustainable, inclusive economies that will deliver a climate neutral future by 2050. Convened by the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), CLG Europe is diverse in its membership and representative of Europe in both geography and sectors. Members include EDF, Ingka/IKEA, Signify, Vattenfall, Rockwool, Velux, Coca Cola Europacific Partners, Iberdrola, Ball, Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Unilever. The group works closely with policymakers – particularly the Green Growth Group of EU climate and environment ministers, and supportive Members of the European Parliament through its Green Growth Partnership.

About Eurosif

Eurosif – the European Sustainable Investment Forum, is the leading pan-European association promoting sustainable finance at the European level. Its membership is comprised of Sustainable Investment Fora (SIFs) from across Europe. Most of these SIFs have a broad and diverse membership themselves, including asset managers, institutional investors, index providers and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) research and analytics firms. Eurosif and its members are committed to the growth and development of sustainable finance and support development of EU rules which are fit-for-purpose and facilitate the financial industry’s contribution to a just transition. 

About E3G

E3G is an independent think tank working to deliver a safe climate for all. It drives systemic action on climate by identifying barriers and constructing coalitions to advance the solutions needed. E3G creates spaces for dialogue and supports governments, businesses and the public with guidance on how to deliver change at the pace the planet demands.

About Global Reporting Initiative

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is the independent nonprofit organization that provides the GRI Standards – the world’s most widely-used sustainability reporting standards, used by organizations to assess and report their environmental, social and economic impacts.

About Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change

IIGCC is an investor-led membership organisation. The IIGCC brings the investment community together to make progress towards a net zero and climate resilient future. They work with their members to create guidance, tools, frameworks and resources that can help them, in their individual contexts, in managing climate-related financial risk within their portfolios and making the most of opportunities presented by the transition towards a decarbonised global economy and the realities of a changing climate. IIGCC has 400+ members across 20+ countries. 

About Principles for Responsible Investments

The Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) is the world’s leading proponent of responsible investment, supporting its international network of investor signatories (managing over US$128 trillion) to incorporate sustainability and governance factors into their investment and ownership decisions.