Omnibus Package 2: effective sustainability and industrial competitiveness in the EU

In February 2025, the European Commission presented the Omnibus 2 legislative package, integrated into the Industrial Competitiveness Plan for Europe, with the aim of strengthening the competitiveness of the European industry without abandoning environmental sustainability commitments.

This package responds to a context marked by global trade tensions, rising energy costs following the war in Ukraine, and the slowdown of private investment in the ecological transition. The message is clear: sustainability remains a priority, but it must be articulated in a way that is compatible with the economic viability of the European business fabric.

Regulatory simplification

One of the central axes of Omnibus 2 is the review of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Among the most relevant modifications are:

• Raising the application threshold to companies with more than 1,000 employees, reducing the number of companies required to report by 80%.
• Postponing the application of the requirements by two years, allowing for a more gradual transition.
• Simplifying the content of reports by eliminating the obligation of sectoral standards and promoting simplified versions of the ESRS for SMEs.
• Maintaining a limited level of verification, temporarily discarding reasonable assurance.

With this approach, the Commission seeks to place obligations on companies with a larger environmental footprint, alleviating the regulatory burden on SMEs and companies with lower complexity.

Changes in due diligence

The proposal for a Directive on due diligence in corporate sustainability (CSDDD) has also been reviewed. The text proposes to limit the obligation of oversight to direct business partners, except in cases of risk indicators at deeper levels, and to relax the review frequency to quinquennial. Additionally, the binding nature of climate transition plans is eliminated, although the obligation to adopt them remains.

Impact on European and Spanish industry

From an industrial perspective, the reforms represent an administrative relief, especially for medium-sized industrial companies, which will be able to focus their efforts on real sustainability actions rather than complying with complex formal procedures. For large corporations, the challenge will be to demonstrate that their environmental commitment goes beyond the minimum required.

In Spain, industrial SMEs supplying in global chains may fall outside the mandatory perimeter, although they will remain under indirect scrutiny from customers and financiers. Large companies will have to adjust their strategies to maintain the quality of their ESG reports in a more flexible regulatory context, avoiding risks of greenwashing.

A harmonized transposition into Spanish law will be essential, without engaging in gold-plating, to avoid undermining the objectives of simplification. Moreover, modifications to InvestEU and other European financing instruments will facilitate access to green funds, boosting innovation and sustainability projects.

A strategic opportunity

In the words of Víctor Moralo, partner at ECIJA, the Omnibus 2 package represents an exercise in regulatory realism. Faced with the risk of regulatory inflation, the EU opts to adjust the rules without sacrificing the ecological transition. For companies, this recalibration is an opportunity to consolidate effective sustainability and strengthen industrial competitiveness, demonstrating that both objectives can mutually reinforce each other if managed with legal intelligence and strategic vision.

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