Call on the government, parliamentary parties and Swedish MEPs to defend EU sustainability laws
We, representatives from Swedish civil society organizations, trade unions and researchers, want to express our concern about the European Commission's Omnibus proposal, which was presented on 26 February.
The omnibus proposal would amend several pieces of legislation at the same time, in this case several recently adopted sustainability laws: the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDD) and the Taxonomy Regulation, which sets out criteria for what constitutes an environmentally sustainable economic activity. The proposal risks watering down these key pieces of sustainability legislation, which were adopted at the end of the last mandate after years of complex and extensive negotiations.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has stated that the Omnibus proposal is about reducing the regulatory burden in order to strengthen Europe's competitiveness but not weaken the level of ambition. However, the proposal as presented implies significant deterioration of the current legislation. For the CSDD, this would include removing the possibility to hold companies legally liable at EU level, postponing transposition into national law until 2027, and making due diligence processes a one-off exercise every five years. Companies only need to audit direct subcontractors, and those with fewer than 500 employees are completely exempted, meaning that risks further down the value chain - where human rights abuses and environmental degradation are often greatest - are ignored. At the same time, the obligation to act on violations is reduced, and the requirement to implement climate transition plans is completely removed. It also limits the stakeholders to be taken into account, which risks excluding the most vulnerable groups, such as local populations, who are often indirectly affected.
All in all, the Commission's proposal severely undermines the purpose of the regulatory framework - to protect human rights and the environment and to promote sustainable and responsible business. Sweden should take a proactive stance to ensure that these key regulations are not weakened.
A robust sustainability framework strengthens the EU's position as a global leader in responsible business and boosts investor and consumer confidence. By maintaining the integrity of the adopted directives, the EU can build a favorable business environment that rewards responsible actors, attracts investment and fosters innovation, as confirmed by the Commission's own impact assessment. Renegotiating the CSRD and CSDDD at this stage would disrupt ongoing legislative processes in Sweden and the rest of the EU, create legal uncertainty for companies and other stakeholders, and risk wasting the resources already invested in the implementation of these frameworks - a criticism voiced by EU-based companies, Swedish ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) and sustainability leaders, investors, human rights experts, civil society actors and trade unions. Moreover, the majority of EU Member States, including Sweden, have already incorporated CSRD into national legislation. In Sweden, the government has also initiated the implementation of the CSDDD by appointing a special investigator.
The CSDDD, CSRD and the Taxonomy are key elements in the EU's efforts to address business-related human rights abuses and combat climate change. The CSDDD's requirement for companies to adopt and implement climate transition plans is now more important than ever, especially as 2024 was the warmest year on record according to the Copernicus Climate Change Services. The EU must stick to its commitments and maintain its global leadership role in human rights and sustainability. Several countries, including the UK, Norway, South Korea, Mexico, Brazil, Japan and Canada already have or are in the process of introducing similar mandatory human rights due diligence legislation, meaning that there is now momentum that the EU should use.
Despite the potentially high impact of the Omnibus proposal, no public consultation or proper impact assessment has been carried out, in direct contradiction to the Commission's own principles of 'better regulation'. This not only undermines transparency and trust in the EU institutions, but also increases the risk of unintended consequences for Member States and stakeholders.
We therefore call on the Swedish government, parliamentary parties and Swedish MEPs to question the appropriateness and content of the Omnibus proposal and to actively oppose it. The content and timetables of the relevant legislation need to be maintained and changes need to be limited to reducing redundant or overlapping reporting requirements. Swedish policy makers have an important role to play in defending the EU's sustainability agenda.
Signatories:
Trade unions
Akademikerförbundet SSR Heike Erkers, President
Byggnads Kim Söderström, President
Handels Linda Palmetzhofer, President
IF Metall Marie Nilsson, President
ST Britta Lejon, President
Vision Veronica Magnusson, President
Vårdförbundet Sineva Ribeiro, President
Organizations
Act Church of Sweden Emilie Weiderud, Head of Policy
Afrikagrupperna Louise Lindfors, Secretary General
Diakonia Mattias Brunander, Secretary General
Ekobanken medlemsbank Maria Flock Åhlander, CEO
Fair Action Marlene Rosendal, Secretary General
Fair Finance Guide Jakob König, Head of Fair Finance Guide, Swedish Consumers' Association
Fairtrade Sweden Ulrika Urey, Secretary General
ForumCiv Anna Stenvinkel, Secretary General
Human Rights Watch Måns Molander, Nordic Director
Latinamerikagrupperna Martin Johansson, Chairman
Läkarmissionen Josephine Sundqvist, Secretary General
Naturskyddsföreningen Karin Lexén, Secretary General
Oxfam Sverige Suzanne Standfast, Secretary General
Pingstmissionen Mikael Jägerskog, Senior Policy Advisor
Swedwatch Alice Blondel, Secretary General
We Effect Anna Tibblin, Secretary General
Academics
Chalmers University of Technology Martin Persson, Assistant Professor
Swedish Defense University Simon Pierre Boulanger Martel, Postdoctoral Researcher
University of Gothenburg Deniz Kellecioglu, Senior Lecturer
Stockholm School of Economics Hans Kjellberg, Professor
Stockholm School of Economics Lin Lerpold, Assistant Professor
Stockholm School of Economics Lars-Gunnar Mattsson, Professor Emeritus
Stockholm School of Economics Sarah Philipson Isaac, Postdoctoral Researcher
Stockholm School of Economics Örjan Sjöberg, Professor
Linköping University Pontus Cerin, Assistant Professor
Stockholm University Beatrice Crona, Professor
Stockholm University Lisa Deutsch, Senior Lecturer
Stockholm University Jana Gheuens, Postdoctoral Researcher
Stockholm University Maria-Therese Gustavsson, Professor
Stockholm University Shefali Roy, Doctoral Student
Stockholm University Isabella Strindevall, Doctoral Student
Södertörn University Matilda Baraibar, Associate Professor
Södertörn University Tatiana Sokolova, Doctoral Student
