“Amundi, EDF Join Firms Asking EU Not to Water Down ESG Rules”

Some of France’s largest companies, including Amundi SA and Electricite de France SA, have signed a letter to European policymakers urging them to ensure the bloc sticks with its current timetable for implementing ESG reporting rules.

The companies are responding to a growing wave of opposition to environmental, social and governance requirements, most recently in the form of German efforts to delay the rollout of reporting rules.

C3D, a Paris-based group that represents more than 400 members including L’Oreal SA and Carrefour SA, said the planned rules provide “essential tools to ensure European companies are prepared for ESG risks and can thrive in a competitive global economy”…

Germany has asked the EU to delay implementation of its landmark ESG disclosure rulebook — the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive — and to exempt smaller companies from CSRD…

In addition to CSRD, the so-called omnibus legislation that EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said she’ll introduce this year will likely include proposed changes to the EU’s Taxonomy Regulation and to the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive…

The organization’s members said complaints that CSRD, CSDDD and the Taxonomy hurt European competitiveness are overblown and often made by parties that haven’t closely examined the measures…

Excerpts from the full letter (available via www.we-support-the-csddd.eu)

...Sustainability regulations not only ensure a level playing field but also strengthen European sovereignty. A study by EcoVadis highlights that Western Europe leads in Corporate Sustainability Reporting. Maintaining this leadership requires firm and consistent application of the CSRD, ensuring that European standards shape global norms rather than ceding control to competing frameworks from the U.S. or Asia. Postponing or diluting these regulations would undermine European competitiveness and give strategic advantages to foreign standards....

...A moratorium or rollback risks fostering a culture of delay rather than encouraging further adoption. The phased introduction of the CSRD has been carefully designed to foster a virtuous cycle of compliance. Adding obligations to act (as introduced in the CSDDD) reinforces the progress made on obligations to disclose, ensuring sustainable practices become entrenched across supply chains...

...Claims that the CSRD, CSDDD, and Taxonomy are overly burdensome and detrimental to European competitiveness often come from stakeholders who have not engaged deeply with the texts. As sustainability officers for large and medium-sized French companies, we have studied these regulations thoroughly...