The Council of the European Union has published the "Budapest Declaration on the New European Competitiveness Deal" on its website. LexBlog reports that the announcement was made after the meeting of EU heads of state and the European Commission in Budapest.
Among other things, the Budapest Declaration emphasises the urgency of strengthening the EU's competitiveness in the face of geopolitical and economic challenges. The aim is to significantly reduce administrative, regulatory and reporting burdens, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). To this end, the EU is to present concrete proposals to reduce reporting obligations by 25% in the first half of 2025. The focus is also on simplifying regulations, promoting innovation, digitalisation and technologies and expanding a stable internal market in order to offer companies better conditions for growth. Promoting research, energy and the circular economy will also be key measures.
LexBlog also reports that the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced on 8 November 2024 that certain existing and future EU ESG reporting obligations should be summarised in an "omnibus" regulation and their requirements streamlined. In this context, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) are mentioned, among others. However, von der Leyen's announcement that the content of the CSRD and CSDDD regulations will be retained, indicates that the combined omnibus regulation will not reduce the main reporting obligations for companies. The new omnibus regulation is due to be published in 2025.
Is your company affected by CSRD and CSDDD? Take action now! Christopher Blauth and Jens Haasler will be happy to answer your questions.
