The Commission’s deregulation package: their profits before our values!
If the Green Deal was ever the legacy of Ursula von der Leyen’s first term, it seems that her second term will be dedicated to dismantling it altogether, provision by provision. The leaked version of the Omnibus regulation, a set of provisions aiming at “cutting red tapes” in due diligence and sustainable finance regulations, has nothing to do with simplification; it’s even old-fashioned deregulation. It’s a methodical and rigorous weakening of most meaningful obligations that remained in an already weakened set of legislations, most notably the Corporate Sustainability and Due Diligence Directive. The message is clear: EU’s competitiveness prevails over the EU’s principles and values. Even over the EU’s own long-term interest.
The proposal, if confirmed in the official communication Wednesday, will reduce the CSDDD to a mere bureaucratic exercise of formal due diligence. A ticking-the-box exercise to undertake every once in a while to green- and human rights-wash EU corporate impunity around the world. Take, for example, the obligation for Members States to ensure civil liability which created access to justice for harms caused by corporations in their value chain. Removed. Take the obligation to "put into effect" climate transition plans, which obliges corporations not only to report on their alignment with the Paris Agreement but to act upon it. Removed. Take the so called “revision clause,” which gave the opportunity within two years to bring financial services under the scope of the directive to impose on them human rights and environmental obligations. Removed.
In fact, the proposal goes as far as limiting Member States’ capacity to adopt more stringent obligations, reversing the initial spirit of the directive which was intended as a set of minimum standards that each Member States were free to strengthen. The proposal lowers the bar of obligations so much that it would even weaken existing international (non-binding) standards that have been set by international organisations in which the EU and its Member States are members, namely the OECD and the UN. In short, the proposal, posed in the name of the EU’s competitiveness, gives the impression that our prosperity can only come at the expense of human rights violations and environmental degradation. This is an alarming message to start a new legislative term with, particularly in a time of high political uncertainty.
Our values before their profits!
Competitiveness should never come at the expense of the core values of the Union itself, particularly the protection of human rights and the environment. The adoption of the CSDDD was one that citizens could be proud of as it sought to align EU corporates’ behaviour with the fundamental values that define us as a Union, a community. It gave a strong signal to EU’s international partners that the EU is a value-driven partner and abides by its principles. The Commission is now sending the exact opposite message to citizens and global partners.
In a context where democracy and our values are threatened systematically by obscure political forces, compromising our values, even in the name of competitiveness, is short-sighted and will undermine our voice and long-term interests. It will undermine our sense of shared values and community. The Commission, as guardian of the Treaties, is failing its obligations, by bypassing its own procedures and internal consultations processes. By bypassing democracy and freshly agreed legislations by the representatives of Member States and the European People. Now, it is up to the College of Commissioners to stand up for our values and principles and oppose the proposal. Our elected representatives will also need to rise to the occasion and demonstrate that our values and principles remain at the heart of our democracy.