A few weeks after the publication of its “EU Competitiveness Compass”, the European Commission presented on Wednesday February 26 2025, the first two flagship initiatives of the new mandate to strengthen the competitiveness of the European economy and ensure sustainable prosperity: the first Omnibus Package and the Clean Industrial Deal.

In its Omnibus Package, the European Commission proposes to revise key Green Deal regulations in order to foster competitivity by simplifying reporting obligations: the 2022 Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the 2024 Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), the 2020 EU Taxonomy regulation as well as the 2023 Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).

The Business for a Better Tomorrow coalition takes note of the Commission’s proposal and supports its approach aimed at optimizing the implementation of the above mentioned sustainability regulations. However, we regret the path taken by the European Commission, which, by reopening several of these texts at level 1, undermines provisions at the heart of our future resilience and creates legal and competitive uncertainty ahead of the forthcoming negotiations in Brussels. Predictability is essential for competitiveness—EU policies must provide a stable and coherent framework that allows businesses to align their operations and value chains with the transition pathway. Many companies have already made significant investments to comply with EU obligations, and weakening these rules now would not only penalize early movers but also erode trust in the regulatory environment. Furthermore, the coalition stresses that the proposed revisions amount to a major rollback of the EU’s environmental and social ambitions, in sharp contrast with the Commission’s statement that the goals of the European Green Deal would remain intact.

Sustainability reporting and due diligence requirements empower businesses to tackle the ecological and social challenges of tomorrow  while strengthening their resilience to the risks these challenges pose. Simplification must not be a pretext for rolling back ambition—it should be a lever to drive both sustainability and competitiveness for EU businesses. We call for a swift and decisive conclusion to the discussions that are about to be reopened with the Commission, Council and Parliament, so that European businesses can thrive within a clear and harmonized framework.

We welcome the adoption of the Clean Industrial Deal by the European Commission, which provides concrete answers to the challenges facing businesses, particularly in terms of energy costs, fair competition for decarbonized products, the development of the circular economy and the need for investment in clean technologies and digital sovereignty. The adoption of these measures represents a significant step forward in boosting European industrial competitiveness. It will therefore be essential to ensure their deployment under fair and effective conditions, in line with companies’ expectations.

Simplification, supported by the Omnibus package, must be a lever for competitiveness and growth, not a renouncement of Europe’s sustainability ambitions. At the same time, the Clean Industrial Deal must create a stable, predictable, and incentivizing framework to accelerate the decarbonization of the economy and support innovation.  In this perspective, the Business for a Better Tomorrow coalition will remain mobilized to ensure that these initiatives fully meet—rather than undermine—the needs of businesses committed to ecological and social transition.

Finally, while discussions in the Competitiveness Council on March 12 indicate the possibility of including additional environmental regulations in the Omnibus process, we urge caution against reopening other critical files. Businesses require clarity and stability in existing policies to maintain their momentum in the transition.

Far from being a constraint, the transition should be a strategic opportunity to strengthen the competitiveness, innovation and resilience of European businesses.