EU: Omnibus I package: Council approves ‘Stop the clock’ mechanism

On 26 March 2025, the European Council reached its negotiating position on the ‘Stop the Clock’ proposal, supporting the Commission’s initial proposal which postpones the dates of application of certain corporate sustainability reporting and due diligence requirements, as well as the transposition deadline of the due diligence provisions.

The proposal forms part of the Omnibus I package adopted by the Commission on 26 February 2025 to simplify EU sustainability legislation.

The Commission proposes to postpone:

• by two years the entry into application of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requirements for large companies that have not yet started reporting, as well as listed SMEs, and
• by one year the transposition deadline and the first phase of the application (covering the largest companies) of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD).

Next steps
The European Parliament will vote on request for urgent procedure on the proposal on 1 April 2025. If the vote is successful, the ‘stop the clock’ proposal will skip the ordinary Committee stage whereby a rapporteur drafts a report as the basis of the EP’s position.

The Council press release is available here. 

For our detailed post on the Omnibus Package, see here