This opinion addressed the Commission's legislative initiative which aims to reduce the administrative burden without affecting the environmental objectives agreed under the existing legislation in the areas of, among others, industrial installations and circular economy, environmental assessments and permitting, chemical waste, Extended Producer Responsibility and waste management.
The opinion focuses on the legislative proposals package "Omnibus IV" whose measures aim at cutting red tape for small-mid caps and modernising EU rules as regards digitalisation and common specifications.
This Directive will set out a horizontal framework to foster the contribution of businesses operating in the single market to the respect of the human rights and environment in their own operations and through their value chains, by identifying, preventing, mitigating and accounting for their adverse human rights, and environmental impacts, and having adequate governance, management systems and measures in place to this end.
The EESC strongly supports the goal of redirecting investments in such a way that they contribute to the EU's transition to a sustainable economy but calls for the social partners and civil society to be brought better on board in the design and implementation of sustainable finance. The EU green bond standard has the potential to yield significant economic benefits for both issuers and investors alike and help the green transition.
The EESC strongly supports the goal of redirecting investments in such a way that they contribute to the EU's transition to a sustainable economy but calls for the social partners and civil society to be brought better on board in the design and implementation of sustainable finance. The EU green bond standard has the potential to yield significant economic benefits for both issuers and investors alike and help the green transition.
This opinion will provide the civil society perspective on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. The main purposes of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) would be to discourage EU businesses from moving their production to countries with less ambitious climate change policies (carbon leakage) and to encourage a global move towards net zero carbon emissions by 2050 in line with the Paris Agreement.
The EESC underscores the potential key role of the Sustainable Finance Taxonomy Delegated Regulation in creating a clear, coherent and comprehensive framework to highlight the ambitious development of a greener economy without lock-in effects. The taxonomy should build on technical criteria that clearly define the green investments that directly contribute to Europe's climate objectives.
It is essential that efficient, easily applicable, innovative and productive tools are used, to bring about rapid and readable results, and by also preventing "greenwashing". However, the EESC poses the question as to whether the technical criteria set out in the Delegated Regulation do indeed meet the fundamental prerequisite of appearing reasonable, realistic and acceptable, and takes note of the concerns of real economy actors regarding the negative effects of the Delegated Regulation on financing possibilities and costs.
The objective of this proposal is to improve sustainability reporting at the least possible cost, in order to better harness the potential of the European single market to contribute to the transition towards a fully sustainable and inclusive economic and financial system in accordance with the European Green Deal and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Download — Opinia EKES-u: Review of the non-financial-reporting directive
