NFU Press Release: Conservative Majority Backed by Right-wing Destroys EU Sustainability Framework
Carin Hallerström, General Secretary of Nordic Financial Unions (NFU), expressed deep disappointment following today’s vote in the European Parliament on the Omnibus I package, which amends the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD).
Instead of reinforcing Europe’s commitment to transparent, responsible and future‑proof financial markets, the European Parliament has confirmed a legal framework, that drastically narrows the scope of sustainability reporting and due diligence obligations. By raising thresholds far beyond the compromise reached in the Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) and by eliminating key reporting requirements, the adopted text undermines two essential pillars of the EU’s sustainable finance framework.
“This vote sends the wrong signal at a moment when financial institutions, investors and regulators require more, not less, credible information about companies’ environmental and social risks. CSRD data is indispensable for risk assessment, portfolio steering, capital allocation, and the long‑term resilience of Europe’s financial system,” said Carin Hallerström, NFU General Secretary.
Weakening this framework reduces transparency, increases uncertainty, and threatens the competitiveness of European companies that have already invested heavily in high‑quality sustainability reporting and due diligence processes.
NFU is equally concerned about the political dynamics that led to today’s outcome.
“The decision to rely on a far‑right and anti-EU coalition to push through amendments that dismantle key parts of the CSRD and CSDDD risks eroding trust in the EU’s rule‑based approach to sustainability and responsible business conduct. Europe cannot afford a fragmented or weakened framework at a time of accelerating climate and geopolitical risks,” said Anna‑Delia Papenberg, NFU’s Head of EU Affairs.
NFU is further alarmed by signals that additional regulatory simplification is already being prepared. The Member States have asked the European Commission to swiftly present further packages aimed at simplifying EU financial services regulation. In conclusions adopted at the end of the meeting of EU finance ministers, the Council called for a “comprehensive and ambitious plan” to review, simplify and, where necessary, repeal existing legislation in this area. According to the Council, this plan should include clear priorities and timelines and focus on areas where simplification would have the greatest impact.
Against this backdrop, NFU strongly regrets that a Nordic Member of the European Parliament, Jörgen Warborn, has chosen to ignore repeated appeals from the Nordic sustainable finance industry, trade unions and confederations such as NFU. These stakeholders have consistently warned that a drastically diminished scope of the CSRD, falling even below the scope of application of the former Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD), endangers the well-functioning and competitive sustainable finance model that has developed in the Nordic countries.
Weakening the CSRD and CSDDD risks destroying data comparability and reliability, thereby undermining not only these two cornerstone directives but also the effectiveness of related frameworks such as the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR). Such developments risk placing Europe, and particularly Nordic financial markets, at a regulatory disadvantage vis-à-vis other global regions.
