This edition of The Debrief unpacks a pivotal moment for EU corporate accountability. The European Parliament has approved its negotiating position on the Omnibus, slashing the number of companies covered under the CSDDD and gutting its key provisions on civil liability and climate transition plans. Critics say the compromise bows to corporate and governmental lobbying and undermines trust in the Parliament's legislative process.

Meanwhile, the European Commission has allegedly backtracked on its proposed year-long delay to the EU Deforestation Regulation, opting instead for a six-month grace period on sanctions. But under pressure from conservative lawmakers and major trading partners, the new plan is expected to weaken rules for smallholders—raising further concerns about external influence on EU policymaking.

With trilogues on the horizon and high-stakes votes ahead, the Debrief is here to track the forces shaping the future of corporate accountability in Europe.

 

Catch up on everything you need to know, including updated timelines, industry reactions, and new civil society research, in this week’s roundup. If you'd like us to feature an upcoming event, report or other update on The Debrief, please don't hesitate to contact us via LinkedIn.

Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD)

Updates:

The JURI committee of the European Parliament approves its negotiating position on the Omnibus I Package, gutting some of the core elements of the CSDDD.

On the 13th of October, the Omnibus I revision to the CSDDD was voted through by a very small majority. While the position put forward by the EPP rapporteur Jörgen Warborn includes very minor improvements on the Commission proposal, it largely backslides on a number of the law's most important elements.

The EPP’s approach to negotiations have been heavily criticised as "blackmail". According to the European Coalition of Corporate Justice, left pro-European partners were given the impossible choice of 'accepting a break of the Parliament’s ‘cordon sanitaire’ through cooperation with the far right, or back a weakened proposal to preserve the ‘von der Leyen platform’.'

Key elements of the package in relation to the CSDDD include:

Raising the thresholds for both EU and non-EU companies, reducing in-scope companies to less than 1,000 across the EU.

Cancellation of the harmonized EU civil liability framework, which led MEP Lara Wolters to resign from her position as shadow rapporteur on the file.

Ambiguity about the required ambition of 'implementing' transition plans: the position reframes the goal from Paris Agreement compatibility and 2050 climate neutrality to a mere “contribution”, and introduces a two-year optionality loophole, allowing these climate plans to be voluntary for the first two years.

U.S. and Qatar sent a joint letter to EU leaders urging them to further weaken the CSDDD, threatening to disrupt LNG supply to the EU.

The letter, published on Wednesday the 22nd, said the EU’s CSDDD poses an “existential threat” to the growth, competitiveness and warned of negative consequences to investment, trade and exports of liquified natural gas (which became a lifeline for the EU post-2022.

In particular, the letter calls on the EU to address their “legitimate concerns” over the directive, including its extraterritorial reach, penalties, civil liabilities and energy transition plans.

On Wednesday 22nd of October, the EU Parliament will likely face a vote on the JURI Committee's decision to enter trilogue negotiations directly without a prior plenary vote.

On 13 October, the JURI Committee not only voted on the Omnibus compromise, but it also voted in favour of entering trilogue negotiations directly without a prior plenary vote. This decision has been criticised by MEPs, who are calling for a full plenary vote (rather than solely the Committee) given the importance of the decision.

As a result, on Wednesday it's likely that MEPs will secure enough backing for the plenary to vote on whether to 'confirm or reject the mandate to go directly to the trilogue'. As Andreas Rache clarifies, this will be a vote on the underlying procedure behind the Omnibus, rather than the proposal itself.

According to Andres Rasche, if the plenary confirms the mandate, trilogue negotiations will begin on 24 October. However, 'if the plenary rejects it, the Omnibus will return to the next plenary session (11–13 November) for a full vote. In that case, a new deadline for amendments will be set, meaning parts of the compromise could once again be reopened.'

48 French and German multinationals wrote a letter to the heads of Germany and France calling for the complete scrapping of the CSDDD - though some French companies have since backtracked.

The letter to Chancellor Merz and President Macron, made public on the 10th of October, was co-authored by TotalEnergies CEOs Patrick Pouyanné and Roland Busch of Siemens, and written “in the name of” 46 chief executives who met with the heads of state during a high-level, closed-door meeting between industry and the governments in Evian, France, in early September.

The letter has received criticism for its fundamental opposition with the UN Global Compact’s ten principles.

According to POLITICO, some French signatories now claim they were “encouraged to write it" by their national governments. The CEO of BPI France has clarified he does not consider himself bound by the letter, because he did not even see the letter before it was published.

No German companies have yet backtracked on the letter, indicating their alignment with its sentiment.

Further Reading:

New research by Global Witness reveals 'mega-pollution' of companies still in scope of the CSDDD.

Despite the recent vote to water down new EU corporate accountability laws, firms that remain in scope of the legislation are responsible for huge amounts of greenhouse gas emissions.

The combined operational emissions of these companies exceeds 2 billion tonnes of CO2 – equivalent to almost two-thirds of the EU’s total annual emissions.

Global Witness claims this data 'underlines the extraordinary opportunity the CSDDD presents for the EU to turn its climate commitments into meaningful global action', if it retains the adoption and implementation of credible Climate Transition Plans. It also explains the concerted lobbying from gas and oil companies to dilute climate obligations within the act.

Implementation timeline:

  • October 2025: Planned vote on the Omnibus in the Plenary of European Parliament
  • Late 2025-2026: Trilogue on Omnibus (Parliament, Council and Commission) to negotiate final legal text.
  • From 2028 [delayed]: Companies with 5,000+ employees and a net turnover of 1,500 million EUR must comply.
  • From 2028 [unchanged]: Companies with 3,000+ employees and a net turnover of 900 million EUR must comply.
  • From 2029 [unchanged]: Companies with 1,000+ employees and a net turnover of 450 million EUR must comply.

EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR)

Updates:

The European Union plans to shorten the original year delay to the EUDR, proposing instead to give companies six months of leeway to comply with the law and offer concessions to smallholders.

On Tuesday the 21st Bloomberg reported that the European Commission will propose giving companies six months of relief from sanctions after the EUDR goes into effect at the end of the year.

This signals a rollback of plans announcedlast month to delay implementing the rules by a year.

In addition, sources claimed that the bloc will simplify regulations to loosen obligations on smallholder farmers. According to reporting by the Financial Times (FT), the changes will include "farmers and foresters only [having] to register once in the IT system rather than for all of their products." The three EU officials involved in the talks who spoke to the FT claimed the exemption of smallholders from the regulation responds to pressure from conservative lawmakers and trading partners such as Indonesia, Brazil and the US.

This moves comes after the EC faced backlash from companies and environmentalists for using an IT issue as an excuse for "reopen[ing], delay[ing], or chang[ing] the EUDR."

Global investors managing over $3 trillion in assets urge governments to reverse deforestation by 2030.

On Monday the 20th of October, 30 institutional investors, including Swiss private bank Pictet Group and Nordic investor DNB Asset Management, publicly signed up to the Belém Investor Statement on Rainforests, calling for urgent action to combat deforestation.

The statement reads, 'as investors, we are increasingly concerned about the material financial risks that tropical deforestation and nature loss pose to our portfolios.'

This landmark collaboration follows new research on the rate of ecological breakdown (see below) and precedes the U.N. climate conference in Brazil next month.

Further Reading/Listening:

New research by Climate Rights International links deforestation and slave labour in the Brazilian cattle industry to major international textile brands.

The report finds that cattle-driven deforestation in many parts of Brazil is fueled by egregious human rights abuses—including the use of forced labor and invasions of Indigenous lands.

The report also found that hides made in slaughterhouses engaged in deforestation and/or forced labour enter the supply chains of tanneries that export leather worldwide. Downstream customers of these tanneries include athletic footwear and apparel brands such as Adidas, Asics, Converse, New Balance, Nike, Puma, Reebok, Rockport, The North Face, and Vans.

The Forest Declaration Assessment 2025 finds that the world is falling far behind deforestation goals, with farms and fires driving loss.

The analysis finds that 8.1 million hectares of forest were lost in 2024, a level of destruction 63% higher than the trajectory needed to halt deforestation by 2030.

The report concludes that a combination of misaligned 'financial flows with forest goals', and failure to delivery on corporate and financial sector commitments, means that the global deforestation curve has not begun to bend.

Implementation timeline:

  • 30 June 2025: Country benchmarking act adopted
  • 30 December 2025: Obligations stemming from the regulation will be binding for large operators and traders
  • 30 June 2026: Obligations stemming from the regulation will be binding for micro- and small enterprises

EU Forced Labour Regulation (EUFLR)

Update:

None

Further reading:

Investors publish practical and evidence-based tools for asset managers on detecting and eliminating forced and child labour.

Tools featured in this article include template standard and detailed questionnaires for prospective portfolio companies and for ESG assessments.

The next, and final, article in this series presents a longer list of due diligence questions for asset owners to use if answers to any of the three Heightened Risk Scenario questions from the first article in this series is unclear or suggests a higher level of risk.

The Investigations Director at Centre for Information Resilience has started a newsletter covering everything OSINT, from resources and innovations to case studies.

Implementation timeline:

  • 2026: EU Commission to publish guidelines, including a forced labour risk database.
  • 14 December 2027: law becomes applicable.

Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA)

Updates:

None

Further reading

Mapping by Pamir exposes the breadth of sectors exposed to state-imposed labour transfers across China.

The analysis finds that forced labour exposure radiates across 'electronics, optics and electricals lead, with exposure in automotive, food, textiles, machinery, chemicals, metals, and more.'

Disclaimer: This newsletter is for general informational purposes only. It does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice.