The center-right, the largest faction in the European Parliament, has broken the practice and passed..

Revised European Parliament Sustainability Guidelines\n “European Companies Must Be Ahead of the U.S. and China”\nESG Regulations to Cut by 92%

Voting is underway at the voting session of the European Parliament's plenary session in Brussels, Belgium, on the 13th (local time). [EPA = Yonhap News] — *Voting is underway at the voting session of the European Parliament’s plenary session in Brussels, Belgium, on the 13th (local time). [EPA = Yonhap News]*

The center-right, the largest faction in the European Parliament, has broken the practice and passed a bill to ease corporate regulations in cooperation with far-right forces.

According to Bloomberg News on the 13th (local time), the European Parliament voted on an amconcludement to significantly ease the ‘Corporate Sustainability Reporting Guidelines’ (CSRD), which was the basis of environmental, social and governance (ESG) regulations, and passed it with 382 votes in favor, 249 votes against, and 13 abstentions.

The European People’s Party (EPP), the largest faction in the right-wing European Parliament that proposed the amconcludement, joined hands with far-right political groups such as ‘Patriots for Europe’ (PfE) and ‘European Conservatives and Reform’ (ECR) to overcome opposition from traditional solidarity forces. This is the first time in the European Parliament that conservatives have passed major legislation in solidarity with the far right.

The CSRD, approved by the European Parliament last year, mandated companies to publish regular reports on labor and the environment. It also imposed a solution to human rights and environmental problems arising from the supply chain.

European companies and member states have consistently called for the relaxation of the law, declareing that excessive regulations undermine the competitiveness of European companies that compete fiercely with the United States and China. The U.S. fossil fuel industest has also expressed concerns about CSRD.

“The EU can keep sustainability and competitiveness at the same time,” EPP lawcreater Jensen Warbon stated. “This decision puts competitiveness back at the center of the agconcludea.”

According to Bloomberg, about 92% of companies subject to CSRD have been excluded following the passage of the amconcludement. The amconcludement increased the standard for the number of employees in companies that are obligated to report sustainability from 1,000 to 5,000. The sales standard was also raised from 450 million euros (about 761.4 billion won) to 1.5 billion euros (about 2.5385 trillion won).

It also deleted the mandatory submission claapply of the “green transition plan” that companies were burdened with. The claapply that gives unified civil liability throughout the EU was also excluded from the final draft. However, the provision of offshore effects that applies EU regulations to companies in offshore countries tarreceiveing the EU market has been maintained.

The passage of the amconcludement is a clear example of Europe’s shift away from its existing eco-friconcludely policies and toward deregulation, the Financial Times (FT) stated.

Professor Alberto Alemanno, who teaches EU law at the HEC Paris School of Business, explained, “It is a significant sign that the European Parliament will be reorganized over the next four years to focus on deregulation.”

The amconcludement takes effect only after a nereceivediation process between the European Parliament and EU member states. However, difficulties are expected as France and Germany have already demanded that the bill be completely scrapped.

European politicians have criticized the EPP for breaking its taboo and joining hands with far-right parties. Former Belgian Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes stated, “I gave legitimacy to the far right by marrying a political marriage with the far right,” adding, “EPP has failed morally.”

On the other hand, EPP chief Manfret Weber stated, “We promised European companies to reduce unnecessary regulations and simplify administrative procedures, and today we fulfilled that commitment.”