The EU’s Omnibus reforms have been divisive. While some believe the reforms reduce unnecessary burdens on industry, others think they are the result of unchecked lobbying. Previously, we wrote about a group of NGOs that filed a complaint with the EU’s Ombudsman, claiming that the Omnibus was developed through a series of closed-room deals without appropriate public consultation. Now, as part of its investigation, the Ombudsman sent a letter to the European Commission, asking why certain procedures were not followed in the development of the Omnibus proposals. The Ombudsman derives its line of questioning from the NGOs’ complaints. The letter summarizes the complaints stating:
“Specifically, the complainants are concerned that the Commission departed from key procedural requirements foreseen in the Better Regulation Guidelines, by failing to carry out an impact assessment and a public consultation without a proper justification. In their view, the Commission performed a rushed inter-service consultation that was not in line with its rules of procedure. The complainants are also concerned that the Commission did not carry out a climate consistency assessment as foreseen by the European Climate Law.”
The letter asks that the commission respond to these inquiries and clarify:
- The absence of an impact assessment
- The absence of a public consultation
- The absence of a climate consistency assessment
- Why the Inter-Service Consultation (ISC) was limited from the usual 10 days to 24 hours
The Commission has until September 15, 2025, to reply to the Ombudsman’s inquiry. Regardless of the outcome of the investigation, the Ombudsman has no enforcement powers. Even if they conclude that the procedure was flawed, they lack any mechanism to “undo” those flaws. However, this inquiry could result in political pressure, which likely won’t roll back the reforms, but may temper them moving forward.
Our members can learn more about the CSRD and Omnibus proposals here.
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