The adoption of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) marked an important milestone in developing fairer and more sustainable supply chains, especially in the clothing and footwear sector.

While the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) introduced the long-awaited common standards for sustainability reporting in the European Union, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), though not perfect, offers a credible path to corporate accountability toward workers, trade unions, and other victims of corporate abuse. The CSDDD establishes clear and harmonised obligations for companies regarding human rights and environmental protection, in line with longstanding international standards such as the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and the OECD Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct for Multinational Enterprises.

However, in an attempt to implement deregulation through the so-called Omnibus Simplification Package, the European Commission has taken a step back in the implementation of the recently adopted directives. Although the Commission insists that the omnibus aims to simplify rather than deregulate, its proposal undermines the CSDDD’s most important provisions and poses a real threat to textile workers worldwide. Furthermore, the proposal risks making sustainability reporting more complex for companies and less meaningful for rights holders.

With all this in mind, the Clean Clothes Campaign Network opposes the European Commission’s efforts to undermine the protection of workers’ rights, human rights, and the environment.

The Clean Clothes Campaign provides a brief analysis of the changes introduced by the proposed Omnibus, along with practical recommendations for its members, Members of the European Parliament, and EU member states on how to ensure compliance and safeguard workers’ rights, human rights, and the environment.

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