Omnibus package: back on CSDD and CS3D, but a sustainability requirement that is always strategic
The European Parliament voted for an unprecedented weakening of the CSDD and CS3D directives. Despite this regulatory decline, companies have every interest in continuing their ESG efforts to remain competitive and resilient.
On 13 November, the European Parliament voted on a series of new amendments which weaken the two pillars of corporate sustainability: the CSRD (sustainability reporting) and the CS3D (requirement of vigilance).
Under the guise of simplification, these setbacks, adopted within the framework of the omnibus package, mark a break in the dynamics of the European Green Deal.
A historic and controversial vote
The new text, supported by an alliance between the right and the far right of Europe, strongly raises the thresholds of application: only companies with more than 1 750 employees would now be covered by the CSRD, and those with more than 5 000 employees by the CS3D.
MEPs also removed the requirement for a climate transition plan and the European civil liability regime to sanction social and environmental damage in value chains.
For Caroline Neyron, Managing Director of the Impact France Movement, this vote represents « an economic and strategic countersense, which is a blow to the competitiveness of our businesses and to our European sovereignty ».
Indeed, by removing a common and harmonised framework for companies to manage their ESG stakes, Europe paradoxically weakens those which it claims to relieve.
A decline that does not protect companies, it weakens them
According to a study by Tennaxia 2025, 83% of companies that would be outside the scope of the CSDD plan to continue publishing an ESG report.
Most do not do so by regulation, but to meet the expectations of their clients, investors and financial partners.
Almost 70% even consider CSDD an opportunity to transform their business model.
Similarly, a WeAreEurope survey reveals that almost one in two French companies see CS3D as a lever of competitiveness, compared to only 12% who perceive it as a constraint.
These figures show that CSR structuring and transparency are no longer just a matter of compliance, but of long-term resilience and performance.
As Alexis Kryceve, President of WeAreEurope, summarizes, « In the absence of a clear and harmonised framework, companies will have to monitor only highly strategic issues: risks, impacts and ESG opportunities. It will cost them time and money that could be better invested. »
Continue to move forward: a choice of competitiveness
This vote does not sign the end of the sustainable transition.
Rather, it marks a return of individual responsibility: that of each company to choose its own path.
Some will see regulatory relief as an opportunity to lift their feet; others will read a signal to consolidate their ESG strategy and strengthen their competitive advantage.
Companies that will continue to structure their governance, publish reliable data, manage their ESG risks and engage their partners will remain the strongest in an uncertain global context.
« Those who see sustainability as a burden will continue to bear it.
Those who see it as a lever of competitiveness, adaptation and robustness will be better equipped for the future »concludes Alexis Kryceve.
In summary:
The European decline does not relieve companies of their responsibility, it reinforces their interest in acting.
In a context where markets, customers and investors are always looking for more transparency, sustainability remains a strategic compass, even if Brussels, for a time, seems to have lost its way.
Novelhic (13-14 November 2025), Tennaxia 2025, WeAreEurope.