Paris, 17 June 2025. Mirroring the brutal policies of United States (US) President Donald Trump, the European Commission, with its proposed "Omnibus I" directive, is scaling back companies’ obligations to protect human rights, the climate, and the environment, through its proposed « Omnibus I ». The draft directive, submitted in February 2025, would roll back recently adopted flagship directives on the obligation for companies to conduct appropriate human rights and environmental due diligence (Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive - CSDDD) and corporate sustainability reporting (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive - CSRD).
The Offices of the French President and Prime Minister failed to respond to requests for a meeting and a broad coalition of organisations today reacted by condemning the scandelous lack of democracy in the European Union and France and its catastrophic consequences. The organisations put on a satirical display of pro-regulation demonstrators calling for a return to forced labour and deforestation, while a parody of Emmanuel Macron inaugurated the "Place de l’impunité" (Impunity Square).
In 2017, when France passed its due dilligence law it was seen as a pioneer. The law was hailed as a historic step forward for human rights and the environment. But France is now turning its back on civil society, the victims of human rights violations, and some of France’s economic players, by aligning itself with the special interest lobbies.
On 19 May, speaking at the Choose France summit President Macron, catering to the demands of the far right to dismantle social and environmental gains in the European Union announced that he wanted to go even further than the "Omnibus I" directive and simply abolish the CSDDD once and for all. [1]
This about-turn is part of a worrying trend in France, where social and environmental protections are being attacked under the guise of "simplification". [2] The government is following a trend that runs counter to the concerns of the French. In June 2025, a poll conducted by OpinionWay for Reclaim Finance and the Forum citoyen pour la justice économique found that more than 80% of respondents, which included supporters of the presidential majority and Les Républicains party, indicated that they were in favour of obliging multinational corporations to respect the climate and human rights.
The European Union’s "Omnibus I" directive is one of the first steps to massive deregulation and could potentially wipe out the advances made through the Green Pact. [3] The associations and trade unions are particularly alarmed by the fact that an investigation has been opened by the European Union Ombudsman following a complaint from eight associations, condemning the undemocratic, opaque, and hasty nature of the process behind the omnibus package of simplification measures. The Ombudsman is expected to present her conclusions on 18 June 2025.
The European Commission and the French government are taking us down a road where everyone will be left stranded: the inhabitants of the Global South, indigenous peoples, workers at home and abroad, trade unions, European citizens, women, gender minorities, the environment, the climate, public finances, and the companies themselves.
The Council of the EU is currently finalizing its position and the European Parliament is starting to examine the omnibus package. It is not too late to make the voices of our organisations heard and stop to the attacks on human rights, the environment, and the climate.
We are calling for:
– maintaining the scope of the due diligence obligation as is so that it extends beyond companies direct partners and covers the entire value chain;
– maintaining consultations with all stakeholders and ensuring that their involvement is central throughout the entire due diligence process;
– maintaining the possibility of holding a company civilly liable in the event of a breach of the obligations set out in the directive;
– maintaining the obligation for companies to execute their climate transition plans; and
– supporting eventually extending the EU due diligence obligation to the financial services sector.