In its work programme for 2025, the Commission announced a series of measures to address overlapping, unnecessary or disproportionate rules that create barriers for EU companies. Despite promises to preserve the core elements of sustainability and human rights legislation, on 26 February 2025, the European Commission presented its first Omnibus simplification package, proposing sweeping changes to key laws, including the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). The European Commission’s proposal deprioritized human rights, workers’ rights and environmental protections, proposing a series of deregulation measures that, in particular, remove the support for the livelihoods of millions of smallholders worldwide.
As the proposal is now in the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union for their consideration and adoption, more than 360 CSOs and trade unions have been calling on the co-legislators to reject any attempt to weaken the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), which, if the package is adopted, would be reduced to a meaningless box-ticking exercise. This position paper dives deep into how the Omnibus simplification package of the European Commission, if adopted, could prevent the CSDDD from supporting global supply chain resilience.
Below is a table comparing some of the core aspects of the CSDDD and how the Omnibus simplification package could alter them if it were adopted in its current form:
This joint position paper is developed by
Fair Trade Advocacy Office, Fair Trade International, Rainforest Alliance and Solidaridad,
and co-signed by 40+ other civil society organizations.