Brussels Plans to Ease Green Regulations to Revitalize Europe’s Struggling Economy

In the Crosshairs

Criticism of the European Union’s corporate disclosure regulations is hardly a recent phenomenon. A leaked policy paper drafted by former German Finance Minister Christian Lindner called for Berlin to push for the elimination of the EU’s sustainability reporting rules, among other regulations.

This suggestion mirrors a similar call made by French Prime Minister Michele Barnier in October, when he proposed delaying certain aspects of the EU’s corporate sustainability reporting rules by as much as three years.

However, the gap between EU countries voicing concerns and Brussels taking action remains substantial.

The assurances by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that simplifying these rules won’t lead to their weakening have not convinced everyone. “Of course I’m worried,” said French Greens MEP Marie Toussaint, a former rapporteur on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.

Her concern is not unfounded. For example, a proposed delay to the EU’s deforestation law recently emboldened center-right lawmakers in the European People’s Party (EPP) — von der Leyen’s own political group — to push for watering down key provisions of the law.

According to Toussaint, there’s been a major political shift in the European Parliament and among EU member states, with regulatory measures — particularly environmental rules — now being blamed for Europe’s lack of competitiveness. “It’s the opposite of what we were saying five years ago, which was [that] defending European competitiveness is ensuring we have the best products, produced in the best conditions,” she argued.