After the Omnibus earthquake: Time for strategic clarity for European companies

The year 2025 will be remembered as a year of great turmoil for European sustainable strategy. Between attempts at simplification and geopolitical tensions, the Green Deal has gone through an unprecedented period of turbulence. However, with the final approval of the Omnibus Content Directive last December, the fog is finally beginning to lift. For business leaders, the challenge in 2026 is no longer whether the transition will take place, but how to manage it pragmatically within this new framework, which is set to stabilize.

A political divide that served as a warning

The legislative process surrounding the Omnibus Directive revealed a fragility that few in Brussels had anticipated. The alliance of convenience between the European People's Party (EPP) and the far right to dismantle the pillars of the CSRD and the duty of care acted as a wake-up call.

This breach of the political "cordon sanitaire" poses a major risk to businesses. This episode serves as a reminder that environmental regulation has become an ideological battleground, opening the door to numerous challenges on other issues (nine omnibus bills follow this first one). But today, the text has been approved and will be voted on during the first quarter of 2026. For senior management, this final point is a victory: the end of uncertainty. The framework is now set, the thresholds are known, and the timelines have been agreed upon.

Moving away from "reporting for reporting's sake"

The raising of the CSRD thresholds has drastically reduced the number of companies directly subject to the obligation, but this does not signal a disengagement on the part of companies. Europe asserts that by focusing efforts on the most influential players, the measures will be just as effective at a much lower cost and with much greater competitiveness.

For companies that fall outside the legal scope, the pressure does not disappear; it changes in nature. It becomes commercial and financial. Banks, insurers, and major contractors continue to demand sustainability data to assess their own risks. The difference is that in 2026, we are entering the era of structured voluntarism (notably via the VSME standard for SMEs and mid-cap companies). The objective is clear: to transform administrative constraints into a lever for competitive differentiation.

Sustainable finance in the fog

The financial sector, the driving force behind green reindustrialization, risks being left behind. The promise of the CSRD and the Taxonomy was simple: to provide reliable, comparable, and auditable data to direct capital toward the most resilient economic models.

The current dismantling could penalize the good performers. Without standardized data, the risk of deliberate or inadvertent "greenwashing" increases, and with it, investor caution. Ultimately, it is SMEs and mid-cap companies that could end up paying the price through more complex or more expensive access to credit. The risk is that we will create a two-speed Europe, where those who are the driving force behind our real economy will find themselves excluded from international value chains simply because of a lack of transparency.

Faced with the "Chinese model," the advantage of transparency

At the same time, while Europe was debating its thresholds, China was making its moves. By openly drawing inspiration from European standards for its own extra-financial standards, the CSDS, Beijing validated an intuition: ESG data is the new language of global value. The irony is cruel: Europe invented the transition software, but it is China that is installing it.

Despite criticism, the CSRD remains the most robust tool for identifying companies that are resilient to climate and social shocks. By stabilizing this framework, the EU is offering its companies a competitive advantage: auditable transparency, which builds trust among international investors who are increasingly shunning opacity.

2026: The year of implementation

The days of "palace intrigue" are behind us. Companies now have a roadmap that, while streamlined, remains ambitious. For finance and CSR departments, the time has come for operational integration.

The simplification achieved by the Omnibus Directive should be seen for what it is: an opportunity to focus on what really matters. Fewer indicators, more focus on major business model transformations. The fog has lifted; it is now up to leaders to turn this regulatory clarity into a driver of growth.