Trilogue negotiations on the Omnibus I Directive concluded: These changes are coming

CSRD – key changes

Adjustment of the scope of application 

In future, only companies with an annual average of more than 1,000 employees and net sales of more than €450 million will fall within the scope of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). These thresholds apply to both individual companies and parent companies of groups (consolidated). Large companies below these thresholds in terms of accounting law and capital market-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises are therefore no longer affected by the CSRD regulations. For these companies, the introduction of voluntary reporting standards is intended to make voluntary reporting considerably easier. 

At the same time, further exemptions will be introduced. Capital market-oriented companies will now also have the option of claiming exemptions. Financial holding companies will also have the option of waiving sustainability reporting. The text of the directive contains a definition of the term “financial holding company.” One requirement is that the financial holding company must hold interests in companies whose business models and activities are independent of each other.

Subsidiaries and branches of third-country companies are also subject to higher thresholds (€200 million in turnover for a branch or subsidiary, €450 million in (consolidated) turnover in the EU). 

The Omnibus I Directive contains a review clause with regard to the group of users: the thresholds are to be reviewed every five years to take inflationary effects into account. 

In order to be able to apply the simplifications to the group of users as quickly as possible, member states are given the option of exempting companies that were subject to reporting requirements for the 2024 financial year but which, due to the new thresholds, will no longer fall within the scope of the CSRD from the reporting requirements for the 2025 and 2026 financial years. 

No sector-specific reporting standards

The requirement for the Commission to publish sector-specific reporting standards has been removed. However, the recitals of the final Omnibus I text leave open the option for the Commission to develop sector-specific guidelines in connection with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) if there is a need for this on the part of companies. 

Simplified ESRS

The recitals to the Omnibus I Directive make it clear that revised, simplified ESRS are to be adopted no later than six months after the new delegated act on CSRD enters into force.

On 2 December 2025, EFRAG already submitted the revised ESRS as a “technical recommendation” to the EU Commission, which can now evaluate these revised proposals and make any necessary adjustments.  

Limiting the “trickle-down effect”

One of the objectives of the Omnibus I initiative was to reduce the indirect burden on companies not covered by the CSRD due to information requests from large companies for the purpose of fulfilling their reporting requirements (the so-called “trickle-down effect”). The final directive therefore includes provisions specifying what information companies in the value chain may request from other companies under the CSRD. Companies with 1,000 or fewer employees that are part of the value chain of a reporting company are defined as “protected companies.” The regulations clarify that no information may be requested for CSRD reporting purposes that goes beyond a standard for voluntary reporting, and that protected companies have the right to refuse to provide such information. This voluntary reporting standard, which is yet to be adopted, should be based on the VSME as far as possible. 

No transition to reasonable assurance

There are no longer any provisions requiring the Commission to examine the transition to an audit with reasonable assurance. This means that the CSRD sustainability report will continue to be subject to an audit with limited assurance. By 1 July 2027, the Commission is to develop uniform standards for limited assurance audits and adopt them as a delegated act.

Digital support for sustainability reporting

In order to ensure that all companies have access to information on the application of voluntary and mandatory sustainability reporting standards, it has been added that the Commission must set up a special portal to provide information, guidance, and support services. The portal should be linked to any online support measures offered by Member States, where available, in order to take account of national specificities.

CSDDD – the most important changes

Scope of the directive and new deadlines

The scope of the directive has been reduced to EU companies with more than 5,000 employees and a net turnover of €1.5 billion. This significantly raises the original threshold and at the same time standardizes it for all sectors. Furthermore, the CSDDD also applies to so-called non-EU companies if they generate a turnover of more than €1.5 billion in the European Union. 

The final, amended draft directive also contains a review clause: The European Commission will review for the first time in July 2031 and every five years thereafter whether an adjustment of the scope of application and the introduction of a sector-specific approach in high-risk sectors are necessary.

The deadline for implementation of the directive has been postponed by one year to 26 July 2029 for all companies in order to give the companies affected sufficient time to implement the due diligence obligations.

New developments in the identification and assessment of risks

In the course of the amendments to the CSDDD, the participating institutions also agreed on a change with regard to the risk analysis to be carried out. Article 8 continues to require Member States to ensure that companies take appropriate measures to identify and assess actual and potential adverse impacts from their own business activities, those of their subsidiaries and, where relevant, those of their business partners within the value chain. 
Two key changes are worth highlighting here: 

• First, companies should take into account relevant risk factors such as the business partner’s corporate structure, the geographical context, law enforcement, and industry-specific circumstances when conducting their risk analysis. Based on available information, a so-called scoping exercise must first be carried out to determine the areas in which adverse impacts are most likely and most severe. In these identified risk areas, an in-depth analysis must then be carried out to comprehensively assess the potential and actual impacts.
• The second significant change concerns the request for information in the context of scoping or in-depth risk analysis. In order to curb the so-called “trickle-down effect” – analogous to the changes in the CSRD – companies should not request information from their business partners to identify the impacts, but should rely on publicly available or already existing information. Information may only be requested from business partners if it is necessary for further analysis of the most likely and most serious risks. The directive distinguishes between business partners with more than 5,000 employees and those with fewer than 5,000 employees. The latter group is to be given additional protection from information requests and may only be surveyed in exceptional cases.

These adjustments give companies more leeway in determining their negative impacts in the value chain and regulate the scope of information gathering in connection with requests.

Additional adjustments and deletions

Further substantive adjustments relate to stakeholder engagement. The term “stakeholder” has been narrowed down. In future, the involvement of interest groups will include employees of the company, its subsidiaries and business partners, their trade union and employee representatives, and individuals and communities that may be directly affected by products, services and operations, including their representatives. 

In addition, the article on the implementation of a transition plan to mitigate climate change has been deleted. However, companies covered by the CSRD must continue to provide information on their transition plans or, if no such plans exist, indicate whether and when they intend to adopt such plans. 

With regard to liability and sanctions, specific EU-wide liability will no longer be part of the directive. However, Member States are required to establish penalties that are effective, proportionate, and dissuasive. The regulations provide for a uniform upper limit for fines of 3% of global net turnover. To ensure uniform enforcement practices, the Commission, together with the Member States, is to develop guidelines for determining penalties.

What does the current situation mean for companies in Belgium? 

For companies, the conclusion of the trilogue negotiations initially means significantly greater planning security. Even though the formal national implementation of the Omnibus I Directive is still pending, the key content guidelines are now clearly defined. Companies should promptly check whether they will still fall within the scope of the CSRD and/or CSDDD in the future and which specific reliefs or exemptions apply. 

For companies that are still subject to reporting requirements, the focus is now shifting to preparing content for the simplified ESRS and adapting existing processes, particularly in the areas of materiality analysis and the value chain. 

At the same time, the new legal situation offers companies outside the mandatory scope the opportunity to use voluntary reporting in a targeted and proportionate manner – for example, to meet the information requirements of business partners or financiers. Overall, the focus is thus shifting from the question of “whether” to “how” to implement efficient, risk-oriented, and strategically embedded sustainability reporting and due diligence obligations in Belgium.