EU watchdog slams Commission’s undemocratic environmental rollbacks

NGOs welcome the EU Ombudswoman’s finding that the EU Commission committed maladministration in rolling back key environmental and human rights protections – marking a major milestone for transparency, democracy, human and environmental rights.  

In light of these findings, NGOs warn that the Commission must end the use of undemocratic processes to weaken safeguards, notably through the ongoing omnibus simplification packages. 

The Ombudswoman Teresa Anjinho today found that the EU Commission’ handling of Omnibus I on corporate sustainability rules and the 2024 “simplification” of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) violated fundamental principles of good administration, including transparent, inclusive, and evidence-based law making. 

The decision follows several complaints brought by European Coalition for Corporate Justice together with ClientEarth, Anti-Slavery International, Clean Clothes Campaign, Friends of the Earth Europe, Global Witness, Notre Affaire À Tous, and T&E (Transport & Environment) who raised alarm over the Commission’s undemocratic and opaque processes that prioritized corporate interests over public and environmental welfare. 

Earlier this year, a coalition of 8 NGOs filed a complaint to the EU watchdog over the process behind the adoption of the first Omnibus package, which sought to weaken key corporate accountability laws, including the corporate sustainability due diligence directive (CSDDD). 

The Ombudswoman’s investigation led to sharp criticism of the Commission for: 

• Skipping the required impact assessment to weaken the law, and claiming that ‘urgency’ made bypassing these evaluations justifiable. 
• Limiting stakeholder consultation required by the EU Treaties, holding meetings dominated by industry representatives while effectively excluding most civil society actors. 
• Failing to provide evidence that they had carried out the climate-consistency assessment mandated by the European Climate Law. 

With many more upcoming omnibus packages that will impact environmental protection across the board, the Commission received a clear message: laws cannot be weakened in this way, and it must immediately stop watering down environmental protection through rushed, non-democratic processes.

This complaint was one of three complaints received by the Ombudsman that raised similar concerns about significant procedural and transparency failings in other legislative files, especially around urgency, demonstrating the Commission’s systemic failure to respect its EU principles of policy-making. 

Joint press release by European Coalition for Corporate Justice together with ClientEarth, Anti-Slavery International, Clean Clothes Campaign, Friends of the Earth Europe, Global Witness, Notre Affaire À Tous, and T&E (Transport & Environment).