In the world of legislation, an omnibus (from the Latin for “all-encompassing”) refers to a legislative initiative that combines several existing or planned laws and revises them in a single package. The draft of the Omnibus Regulation on reporting requirements was presented as part of the introduction of the Competitiveness Compass in January.

The aim is to reduce bureaucracy by cutting reporting requirements by around 25 percent and improving harmonization within regulations. This should ease the burden on companies, especially on medium-sized businesses.

The Omnibus proposal consists of two separate directive proposals:

• COM(2025)80: to postpone the introduction of the reporting requirement for certain companies by two years.
• COM(2025)81: contains proposed amendments to the CSRD and the CSDDD (Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive), in particular to reduce reporting requirements.

• Restriction of the group of users:
  • The CSRD reporting requirement will only apply to companies with more than 1,000 employees and an annual turnover of more than €50 million.
  • Around 80% of the companies originally affected would be excluded, meaning that the new draft will affect only an estimated 4,000-6,000 companies across the EU instead of around 15,000, which will therefore be required to report.
• Postponement:
  • Companies that would have been required to report from 2025 will have their reporting date pushed back by two years. The first reporting will not take place until 2028 for the 2027 financial year.
  • Capital-market-oriented companies with more than 500 employees (“Wave 1”) would be exempt.
• Simplification of the standards:
  • The DMA will remain in place, but narrative and qualitative data points in particular are to be shortened. Quantitative data points (KPIs) will presumably remain largely unchanged. The fact is that the ESRS is being revised.
  • Supply chain reporting requirements are to be restricted.
  • The originally planned sector-specific ESRS are not to come.
  • Until a corresponding delegated regulation is issued, electronic labeling is not to be mandatory.
• Changes in auditing:
  • Deletion of the transition from limited assurance to reasonable assurance.
  • Only guidelines for auditing until 2026.
• Consequences for SMEs:
  • Capital market-oriented SMEs will no longer be included in the group of CSRD users.
• Far-reaching changes in the EU taxonomy:
  • Restriction of the group of users: Companies with fewer than 1,000 employees and less than €450 million in revenue are exempt from the reporting requirement. Companies with more than 1,000 employees and more than €450 million in revenue must disclose all taxonomy key figures.
  • Simplification of reporting: e.g. introduction of materiality thresholds and reduction of data points.

The next step is for the European Parliament and the Council to discuss the proposal. During this process, amendments may still be made – this is highly likely. Will there be a return to the stricter rules, i.e. a “step backwards”? Probably not. We believe that postponing the deadline and simplifying the rules are realistic.

Once an agreement has been reached, the final vote takes place. The European Parliament decides by majority vote. The Council of the EU must agree by qualified majority.

After adoption, the law is published in the Official Journal of the European Union and usually enters into force 20 days later. The exact adoption is expected in the course of 2025. The implementation phase for the member states will then begin.