EU reaches agreement on the Sustainability Omnibus

After around ten months of intensive negotiations, the EU Parliament adopted the Sustainability Omnibus on 16 December. This confirms the provisional agreement reached during the trilogue negotiations and provides clarity at EU level.

Key decisions at a glance

The Omnibus introduces adjustments to key thresholds and requirements under CSRD and CSDDD:

• CSRD: Applicable from 1,000 employees and €450 million turnover
• CSDDD: Applicable from 5,000 employees and €1.5 billion turnover
• Postponement of CSDDD start to July 2029
• Climate Transition Plans remain part of the CSRD but are removed from the CSDDD
• No EU-wide civil liability; reduction of the maximum penalty from 5% to 3% of turnover
• Member States may exempt Wave 1 companies below the thresholds for 2025 and 2026
• Review clause for 2029 to reassess the thresholds

Next steps at EU level

The amended directive will next be published in the Official Journal of the European Union. It will enter into force 20 days after publication, after which Member States will have 12 months to transpose the new requirements into national law.

Implications for Germany

In Germany, discussions on the revised CSRD implementation law are still ongoing. It is expected that the newly adopted EU rules will be incorporated into the national legislative process. A final decision is, however, unlikely before next year.

Outlook

At the same time, the European Commission has already launched the next Environmental Omnibus, addressing regulations such as the Industrial Emissions Directive, the Waste Framework Directive, and Extended Producer Responsibility.

How Tanso supports companies

Tanso supports companies in building a structured and future-proof sustainability management system - from interpreting regulatory requirements to operational implementation. At its core is a central ESG data management approach that creates transparency across the entire organization.

With the Tanso software, companies can consistently manage topics such as Corporate and Product Carbon Footprints (CCF, PCF) as well as social KPIs, aligned with stakeholder requirements. In the context of the Sustainability Omnibus, Tanso also enables flexible multi-reporting across various ESG standards, including CSRD, CDP, EcoVadis, SAQ 5, GRI, and VSME.