European firms favourable to CSRD in its current form, unhappy about Omnibus

Nearly two-thirds (61%) of European firms are satisfied with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) in its current form, while half are unhappy with the Omnibus ‘simplification’ package proposed by the European Commission.

This is according to a survey of more than 1,000 representatives of EU companies in 26 countries – all within the current scope of the CSRD – conducted by NGO WeAreEurope. 

Only 17% of respondents said they are somewhat or very dissatisfied with CSRD, and despite what the politicians defending the Omnibus have suggested, the concern that the law’s sustainability disclosure requirements jeopardises their competitiveness was the least cited of the six potential barriers presented in the survey.

“The key identified strengths of the CSRD include its ability to ensure transparency and comparability in ESG reporting and more importantly to serve as a strategic management tool for steering business transformation. A striking new narrative also emerges: the CSRD is widely seen as a potential geopolitical asset for Europe. 90% of respondents endorsed its relevance across the three surveyed dimensions of sovereignty and economic influence—a rarely discussed yet powerful argument for European leadership,” WeAreEurope notes in its report.

Support for CSRD also increases with firm size: from 57% support among companies with 250–500 employees, to 67% among those with over 5,000 employees.

Negative sentiment around the Omnibus directive

While European companies appear mostly favourable to the CSRD, sentiment around the Omnibus simplification package is much more negative. 

Only 25% of respondents support the Omnibus proposal as it stands while 51% believe major changes are required during the legislative process – regardless of sector and preparedness to implement CSRD requirements in their current form.

The survey does reveal regional differences, with Eastern European respondents more likely to express concern about CSRD and support for the Omnibus, while Nordic and Western countries generally support the current CSRD and are opposed to the Omnibus.

“Germany's support level (with 21% dissatisfied) is relatively close to France’s (16%), which contrasts sharply with recent political narratives reported in Germany that German companies are not ready or willing to embrace ESG reporting,” the report notes.

Latest Omnibus draft update

This week, the EU Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs released a draft of proposed amendments to CSRD and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), which will be debated in the European Parliament as part of the Omnibus legislative process.

Among other things, the draft proposes aligning the scopes of CSRD and CSDDD, with a threshold of 3,000 employees (instead of the proposed 1,000) and a net worldwide turnover of €450 million – further reducing the number of companies that would need to comply.

It also deletes the CSDDD requirement for companies to adopt a climate transition plan and limits the data points required as part of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) to 100 mandatory points and 50 voluntary points.