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EC wants fewer companies to report on sustainability

by AI | 28.Feb 2025 | Europe in brief AI

The European Commission adopted a major package of proposals on Wednesday to simplify EU rules for businesses. One of the key components is that companies with up to a thousand employees and a turnover of less than 450 million euros no longer need to report on their sustainability performance. In practice, this means that 80 percent of companies no longer have to do this.

The European Commission proposes a significant relaxation of sustainability performance by companies.

BRUSSEL (ANP) – The Commission also proposes to postpone the obligation for sustainability reporting until 2028 for companies that have to start doing so from 2026 or 2027.

By, among other things, significantly reducing accountability reports on sustainability, the administrative life of entrepreneurs is made simpler, says the Commission. The aim of the proposals is to improve the business climate in the EU and increase competitiveness.

Another part of the Commission’s proposal is the simplification of the CO₂ levy at the external borders of the EU. That levy is meant to protect EU companies against competition from countries with lower climate ambitions. The Commission wants a large part of importers to no longer pay that levy.

The European Commission further proposes to cut back on the legal EU obligation for international corporate social responsibility.

If all proposals are approved, according to the European Commission, 6.3 billion euros in administrative costs can be saved annually.

The Commission states that the EU’s climate targets will remain in place. This means that the EU must be climate neutral by 2050. On the way there, the EU must emit 55 percent fewer greenhouse gases by 2030.

(February 26, 2025)