13 November marked a turning point in Europe. The European Parliament, through an unprecedented strategic alliance between the right and the far right, adopted regressive legislation known as Omnibus I. This legislation dismantles the directive on corporate due diligence and removes the requirement for multinationals to produce and implement climate transition plans aligned with the Paris Agreement, even as COP30 is underway.
An international collective of more than 250 leaders from civil society organisations, trade unions, responsible businesses, academia, the legal sector and climate activism is calling on the 27 European Member States to resist the wave of deregulation pushed by Donald Trump, Qatar and fossil fuel lobbies. They are urging governments to fully restore corporate civil liability and climate transition plans in the European Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive.
The letter, signed by union leaders from France, Spain, Belgium and Italy, Goldman Prize laureates from India, Russia, Germany and France, as well as NGO directors, business leaders, activists, academics and lawyers, was released on the opening day of the trilogue. The trilogue brings together the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU to finalise an agreement on Omnibus I. At stake are two key measures, corporate civil liability and climate transition plans. Their removal would effectively nullify the corporate due diligence directive adopted by the EU in early 2024 and signal institutional alignment with irresponsible financial interests.
The collective of signatories from more than 30 countries, including Spain, France, Germany, India, Russia, Albania, Belgium, Finland, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Kazakhstan, the United Kingdom, the Uyghur diaspora and Cameroon, is calling on EU Member States to take a democratic and ethical stand. The open letter was published in the French newspaper Le Nouvel Obs.
On 13 November, during COP30, the European Parliament adopted Omnibus I, which significantly reduces the EU’s requirements for corporate accountability, particularly in relation to the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. If Member States do not contest this vote, the impact will be global. Large companies operating in the EU would no longer be obligated to align their strategies with the Paris Agreement or ensure human rights and environmental protections across their supply chains.
The adoption of Omnibus I resulted from an unprecedented alliance between conservative and far-right political groups in response to pressure from industrial lobbies, Qatar and the Trump administration. Oil and gas corporations such as TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil have repeatedly pushed for weaker corporate climate and sustainability rules. Qatar and the Trump administration have urged European leaders to repeal the Corporate Due Diligence Directive or remove key provisions such as climate accountability and civil liability. Right-wing and far-right Members of the European Parliament acted in line with these demands, removing requirements for companies to adopt climate transition plans in line with the 1.5°C global warming limit and weakening civil liability provisions that would have allowed victims, NGOs and trade unions to hold multinational corporations accountable in EU courts.
Following the European Parliament’s vote, organisations such as MEDEF, along with White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt and US Secretary of National Resources Doug Burgum, publicly welcomed the removal of these Green Deal measures.
The trilogue negotiations between the European Commission, the Parliament and the Council begin on 18 November 2025 and could conclude by early December. Ahead of these negotiations, more than 250 prominent individuals from around the world, including NGO directors, union leaders, activists, academics, lawyers and entrepreneurs, called on EU Member States to uphold the corporate due diligence directive adopted in 2024. They argue that the global fight against climate change and human rights abuses cannot rely solely on market forces. They urge countries to reinstate full civil liability for companies and maintain mandatory climate transition plans to ensure corporate accountability across global value chains.
Omnibus I is the first step in a broader dismantling of the European Green Deal initiated under European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Nearly a dozen additional Omnibus procedures are currently underway in Brussels, each of which could significantly weaken European social, environmental and climate protections.
