The Clean Industrial Deal and Omnibus package backtrack on progress made in recent years and favours big business over workers and climate.

 These measures are the European Commission’s first steps towards a “simplification of rules” requested by EPP in the European Parliament. However, this simplification will only make life easier for the wealthiest, at the expense of the most vulnerable. Once again, it highlights the Commission’s priorities, favouring multinational corporations over workers. The Left opposes this agenda, which will not only deregulate workers’ rights but also harm the climate. Strong action is needed, but with social justice placed at the heart of political decision-making.

With these latest measures, the European Commission has set out its intention to rid itself of the climate ambitions it set in the previous mandate in favour of big business.  The Clean Industrial Deal is based on the false promise of ‘competitiveness’, whereas to fight climate change, it is necessary to change the reigning societal model, that is currently built on another false promise: capitalism.

The Omnibus package on sustainable finance released by the European Commission today takes an axe to recently adopted landmark pieces of EU legislation. The rushed approach of the Commission weakens the ‘do no significant harm’ measures of the EU taxonomy, cuts the vast majority of EU businesses out of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, hollows out the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and completely decimates the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. All of these measures were just adopted over the last five years, and so the decision to reverse them represents a complete surrender by the European Commission to corporate lobby interests. The Left shares the warning from NGOs and trade unions, this package will only continue the race to the bottom.

Left co-chair Manon Aubry (La France Insoumise, France) said: “Under the pretext of simplification, the European Commission is simply planning to follow Donald Trump in his dangerous race toward deregulation. The directive on due diligence would have made it possible to protect the environment and human rights from crimes committed by multinational corporations. Rolling it back, after it was democratically adopted just a year ago, is sheer madness! Our group is firmly opposed to this omnibus package and will continue to fight for ambitious social and environmental standards.”