France seeks to delay two environmental directives, citing need for simplification for companies

Brussels – France is asking the EU to review the entry into force of corporate environmental footprint rules and postpone “sine die” new obligations for large companies regarding the negative impact of their activities on human rights and environmental protection.

European Affairs Minister Benjamin Haddad announced this today (Jan. 24) in a post on X. “We are asking the EU to review its reporting directive and postpone indefinitely the due diligence directive. Our companies need simplification, not more red tape. I’ll be in Brussels this week to make this point.”

We call on the EU to review its reporting directive and postpone sine die the due diligence directive.

Our companies need simplification, not more red tape. I’ll be in Brussels this week to make this point… https://t.co/xz0t2gvh2M

– Benjamin Haddad (@benjaminhaddad) January 24, 2025

The minister’s post comes after the online newspaper Politico broke the news yesterday. “We need to focus on legislation that complicates the daily lives of your companies and slows down their growth,” Politico quoted French Economy Minister Eric Lombard as saying on Thursday in his annual New Year greetings, calling for a simplification of the CSRD and the postponement of the Due Diligence Directive (CSDD) until it is simplified.

 In November, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU executive would review and simplify the rules that impose reporting requirements on businesses: the CSRD, CSDD, and the taxonomy, which classifies economic activities according to their environmental and climate impacts. The European Commission should present this revision, known as the omnibus, on Feb. 26.