06/02/2025
The European Commission is preparing to send Europe into a major deregulatory tailspin with its so-called ‘Omnibus’, which threatens to undo a long-negotiated regulatory framework for sustainability.
At the initiative of the Veblen Institute, 240 European researchers including Professor Alberto Alemanno, Founder of The Good Lobby have signed an open letter to the President of the European Commission warning of the dangers of moving away from the Green Deal in the name of competitiveness. The Omnibus proposal aims to simplify three key texts governing corporate responsibility: the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the Duty of Vigilance Directive (CSDDD) and the Green Taxonomy.
Initially, these three complementary texts formed the basis of a policy designed to steer the European economy towards climate and sustainability objectives. Barely entered into force or still waiting to do so, they are already in danger of being unravelled or merged into the ‘Omnibus’, and potentially stripped of their substance.
The Draghi and Letta reports highlighted the scale of the investment needed to enable Europe to strengthen its strategic autonomy and complete its ecological transition. Some believe that the ‘regulatory burden’ is holding back innovation and preventing Europe from asserting itself in the global competition for low-carbon technologies. However, it is not regulation that is the main obstacle, but rather the lack of investment in renewable energies and the adaptation of networks, leaving the European Union vulnerable to fluctuations in the energy markets.
In the letter, the signatories warn of the dangers of such a step backwards, both for environmental and climate action and for the European economy. They challenge the competitiveness argument put forward by the Commission, arguing that it is largely contradicted by the studies carried out when the texts were adopted. On the contrary, they defend an alternative vision in which the stability of standards and ambitious environmental requirements strengthen Europe, enabling it to meet today’s challenges.
This proposal appears to be the first step in a wider wave of deregulation demanded by interest groups with the support of several Member States. Indeed, at the end of January we were already warning about the content of the European Commission’s Competitiveness Compass, which seems to be accelerating the deregulation of the EU’s regulatory environment rather than simplifying it, giving corporate lobbyists unprecedented influence while neglecting social and environmental safeguards.
Read the full letter here and discover the full list of signatories here.