Omnibus - A Last Chance Saloon for the EU Taxonomy?

To great fanfare, the European Commission unveiled its highly anticipated Omnibus Simplification Package for sustainability regulation on 26 February 2025. The overriding aim is to drive economic growth and competitiveness by reducing the burden on business generally.

This initiative sees the start date of legislation on corporate reporting and due diligence pushed back, while there are proposals that the number of companies in scope for reporting should be reduced significantly. The much-criticized EU Taxonomy, which classifies economic activities based on their sustainability, is also to be simplified, signaling a welcome shift from rigid compliance to a system that rewards transparency. In this article, we look at the proposed changes to the Taxonomy, the associated Green Asset Ratio (GAR) and the EU Green Bond Standard (EuGBS) and whether they will be enough to secure its future.

An abridged version of this article has been published in the Financial Times' SustainabilityViews.