Omnibus I Directive: Draft report of the European Parliament

With the Omnibus I Simplification package, the EU Commission has presented a proposal to simplify corporate sustainability reporting in the European Union. The package is currently under discussion in the EU Parliament and Council.

On June 12, 2025, the draft report by rapporteur Jörgen Warborn (EPP, Sweden) in the European Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) on the Omnibus I Directive was published. The draft provides for numerous simplifications for companies that go beyond the Commission’s proposal. The Bavarian Industry Association welcomes the move limit the scope of application for sustainability reporting to companies with more than 3,000 employees.

Specifically, the following adjustments are proposed:

Proposed changes to the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)

• The scope of application for companies that are obliged to report on sustainability should be further limited. The rapporteur proposes to increase the employment criterion to 3,000 employees - instead of 1,000 as proposed by the Commission. In addition, a threshold of at least 450,000,000 euros in sales per year should also be set for EU companies.
• To protect trade secrets, companies should not be required to disclose intellectual property or similar information in their sustainability reports.
• The sustainability reporting standards (European Sustainability Reporting Standards, ESRS) should be designed to be practical. The aim must be to make these as quantitative as possible and to avoid double reporting and overlaps with other guidelines.

Proposed changes to the EU Supply Chain Directive (CSDDD)

• The degree of harmonization should be increased by giving member states less discretion in implementation. The aim is to prevent gold plating.
• The risk-based approach to fulfilling due diligence obligations should be strengthened. A corresponding test should, among other things, take into account geographical factors, factors arising from the given circumstances, sectoral factors, product and service-related factors and business factors. The audit of indirect business partners should only be necessary if there is plausible information that is objective, fact-based and verifiable,
• In the future, in order to prevent potential or actual negative effects, companies should only have to suspend a business relationship if this does not lead to any substantial damage to the company.
• The obligation for companies to develop transition plans to reduce the consequences of climate change should be deleted.

Further procedure

• Vote in the Legal Affairs Committee of the EU Parliament: October 13, 2025, plenary vote: Expected November 2025.
• Trilogue negotiations between EU Commission, EU Parliament and Council will then begin.