Legal and Policy Debrief: December 3d – 19th

Updates:

The EU Parliament approved the Ominibus I package, severely weakening its landmark corporate sustainability laws.

On Tuesday the 16th, the European Parliament cleared one of the final legal hurdles before the heavily diluted Omnibus package could pass into law. In early 2026, EU countries will give their final approval to the deal, though this is primarily a formality expected to wave through the amendments.

As referenced in previous Debriefs, the final text reduces the scope of the CSRD and CSDDD, deletes climate transition plans, removes civil liability and sidelines affected communities.

Now, EU Member States have until 2028 to transpose this Directive into national law, providing a final opportunity to restrengthen the law.

Civil society and experts shared their reactions to the EU Parliament's approval of the Omnibus package.

• European Coalition for Corporate Justice: 'Victims of corporate harm will have a harder path to justice than what the original CSDDD had afforded them, and corporations get a more complex law that makes it more complex to prevent human rights and environmental harm – so much for simplification.'
• Andreas Rasche: 'The EU has lost trust along the way. I talked to many companies that will navigate EU regulations in a less proactive way in the future.
• Helene de Rengerve, Human Rights Watch: 'The approved text now severely undermines the EU’s ability to hold businesses accountable for human rights and environmental harms, leaving a skeleton of a law without much muscles to flex against abusers.'
• Amnesty International: 'This rollback is part of a bonfire of regulations and is the result of intense lobbying efforts by powerful industry actors and external pressure including from the United States. Ignoring widespread criticism from civil society, economists, the UN and even the European Ombudsman, this rushed and opaque process also flies in the face of public opinion, which clearly shows the majority of Europeans favour human rights and environmental protection.'

A formal ethics complaint was filed with the European Parliament against the Omnibus Rapporteur Jörgen Warborn.

As reported by Andreas Rasche, the complaint filed by 10 civil society groups 'concerns Mr Warborn’s failure to declare a potential conflict of interest between his role as President of SME Europe, a registered lobbying organisation, and his position as Rapporteur for the Omnibus I package. The complaint argues that this possible conflict was not disclosed in the mandatory transparency form upon appointment as Rapporteur on 20 March 2025.'

Jörgen Warborn's response is available here. He claims, 'according to the European Parliament’s Code of Conduct, there is no conflict of interest when a Member derives benefits solely in their capacity as a member of the population as a whole or of a large category of persons.'

Further Reading/ Listening:

As part of its broader rollback on sustainability, the EU has proposed loosening its rules on AI gigafactories.

According to the Guardian, this overhaul would 'expand the list of strategic sectors to count datacentres, in line with the EU’s ambitions to become a global leader in AI, and affordable housing, to improve labour mobility. Member states would be free to decide whether such projects should be subject to environmental impact assessments.'

Tomorrow, the EU is also due to present a new deregulation package on food safety, which proposes to loosen controls on the use of pesticides. This Omnibus could include ending 'the mandatory re-evaluation of pesticides every 10-15 years in light of recent science developments which has allowed us to catch health and environmental hazards.'

Timeline:

• November - December 2025: 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.

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EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR)

Updates:

The EU Council and Parliament has agreed on one-year delay to its landmark deforestation regulation.

During trilogue talks, EU institutions signed off on a one-year delay on the EUDR, narrowing of the regulation’s scope and scheduling a review for April 2026.

The EUDR deal will be formally approved this week, on the condition that EU Governments endorse the new agreement.

The WWF has responded to the move: "Years of hard-won negotiations have been thrown under the bus in a matter of hours, and in whose interest? Instead of standing firm behind its own proposal and the will of citizens, the Commission gives in and supports a deal that paves the way for the EUDR to be chipped away bit by bit.”

Further Reading/ Listening:

The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) has published new guidance to help financial institutions support clients and portfolios for the EU Deforestation Regulation.

This newly released guide is 'tailored for Relationship Managers at banks, to explain how they can help clients act on deforestation risks, strengthen supply chain governance and prepare for regulatory and market expectations.'

Proposed timeline [according to new revisions]:

• 30 June 2025: Country benchmarking act adopted
• By 30 April 2026: Simplification review of the EUDR which should be accompanied by a legislative proposal where deemed appropriate.
• 30 December 2026: Obligations stemming from the regulation will be binding for large operators and traders
• 30 June 2027: Obligations stemming from the regulation will be binding for micro- and small enterprises

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EU Forced Labour Regulation (EUFLR)

Updates:

• None

Further Reading:

An RTE investigation found that solar panels used across Ireland are sourced from companies linked to forced labour and environmental devastation in the Xinjiang region of China.

JA Solar and Jinko Solar have been accused of sourcing polysilicon linked to state-imposed forced labour in the Uyghur Region. Their research found Jinko Solar’s links to forced labour in Xinjiang are even more direct: it received ethnic minority workers at a Xinjiang factory it owned between 2018 and 2020.

JA and Jinko panels were identified on sites across Ireland, including at a new solar farm at Shannon Airport and in Ireland’s largest solar farm developments.

The report examines the 'bind' on Ireland to rid supply chains from forced labour exposure whilst meeting their climate targets, especially since Ireland has the highest emissions target gap of any EU member state.

In the UK, the UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner (IASC) has published a new report - Strengthening the UK’s Forced Labour and Human Rights Legislative Framework - setting out how the UK can strengthen its approach to forced labour across the economy.

The report penned by Eleanor Lyons found that the UK must implement laws to prevent it from becoming a 'dumping ground' for billions of pounds worth of goods tainted with forced labour.

The Corporate Justice Coalition and partners have responded to the Commissioner's report, welcoming new momentum for robust regulation, but argues that 'any new law will fall short unless it includes protection against all human rights and environmental harms and is applied proportionately to businesses of all sizes and the whole public sector.'

Implementation timeline:

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