The European Commission has adopted a package of measures to simplify EU regulations, aiming to relieve companies, strengthen competitiveness and mobilize investments. According to a statement released from Brussels on Wednesday, the package is expected to bring an administrative relief of around 6.3 billion euros per year and enable additional public and private investments of 50 billion euros.
A central part of the package is the reduction of bureaucratic requirements for companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that will benefit from simplified reporting obligations. The scope of companies subject to the “Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive” (CSRD) will be reduced by 80 percent and the reporting requirements for large companies will be postponed by two years.
The rules on the due diligence for sustainable supply chains (CSDDD) will also be revised, with companies focusing more on direct business partners in the future, while reporting obligations for smaller suppliers will be reduced. Additionally, the civil liability on a national level will be regulated.
In the area of the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), the Commission plans to exempt small importers with an annual import volume of less than 50 tons from the reporting obligations, affecting around 182,000 companies, yet still capturing over 99 percent of relevant emissions.
Furthermore, investment programs such as “InvestEU” will be optimized to use existing funds more efficiently, making it easier to finance innovation and climate protection projects.
The package of measures will now be presented to the European Parliament and the Council for review. The Commission is calling for a swift adoption to allow the relief to take effect quickly.