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The European Commission’s Environmental Omnibus proposal is a positive first step towards reducing the administrative and regulatory burdens on businesses operating in the EU. Key measures such as streamlining permitting, simplifying industrial emissions reporting, removing the SCIP database and easing Extended Producer Responsibility schemes would help create more efficient and harmonised processes across the EU. Additionally, the proposal’s indication of upcoming work on the Circular Economy Act and the swift implementation of the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation would further support a simplified regulatory environment.

By improving efficiency and predictability, the proposal would help foster a stable, investment-driven market in Europe and reinforce the case for sustainable practices. To fully deliver on the potential to reduce burdens for business, co-legislators must now move the Environmental Omnibus across the finish line. AmCham EU stands ready to serve as a resource in their efforts. These simplification initiatives in environmental regulation are crucial to maintaining Europe’s global standing as a hub for business and innovation. 

The Environmental Omnibus proposal is part of the Commission’s simplification agenda and follows its proposed Chemicals Omnibus, which introduced related environmental simplifications in July 2025. These important initiatives continue to drive efforts to cut red tape, reduce regulatory burdens and enhance the EU’s competitiveness.

The European Commission’s newly introduced Digital Omnibus package is a good starting point for the EU’s digital simplification. Measures such as adjusting the timeline for the application of high-risk AI rules and a reinforced role for the European AI Office are tangible improvements that will give businesses more certainty about how and when they need to meet their compliance obligations. Similarly, the Commission’s launch of a Digital Fitness Check to stress test the digital rulebook and a Data Union Strategy to unlock high-quality data for AI development are important steps. 

However, in certain areas the Commission’s proposal does not go far enough, especially in the harmonisation of cybersecurity obligations. A single entry point for incident reporting helps, but duplication and fragmentation persist across the Network and Information Security Systems Directive 2, the Cyber Resilience Act, the Digital Operational Resilience Act and the General Data Protection Regulation. To cut costs for businesses while raising cyber resilience, the Omnibus should also: 

• Harmonise taxonomies, thresholds and timelines 

• Expand the main establishment principle 

• Align certification and conformity assessments to avoid double audits 

Lessons from other Omnibus initiatives underscore the need for the co-legislators to take swift action and ensure reliable political support behind the Commission’s competitiveness agenda. The stakes for the Digital Omnibus are Single Market-wide. Manufacturers, healthcare and life sciences, financial services, mobility, energy and retail all rely on digital technologies and all face unnecessary burdens from overlapping digital rules. Targeted simplification that reduces duplication and clarifies enforcement promises to accelerate AI adoption, bolster cyber resilience and free resources for investment and jobs across Europe. 

For more detailed recommendations, read our Digital Omnibus position paper. 

The European Parliament’s adoption of its negotiating position on the Omnibus I package marks a major milestone towards a simpler, more consistent and workable sustainability reporting and due diligence framework for companies operating across the Single Market. The final text, however, fails to reflect the concerns of third-country stakeholders and international businesses over extraterritorial effects.

The framework’s implementation risks creating legal uncertainty for global businesses and conflicts of law in different jurisdictions, thereby undermining the diversification of supply chains and chilling investment in the EU. Limiting the scope of the initiatives to an EU Nexus – in other words, making them apply only to those global supply chains directly linked to the EU market – will be critical to achieving sustainability and competitiveness goals.  

The Omnibus I is part of a wider agenda dedicated to improving the competitiveness of the EU’s economy. The Draghi report clearly outlined the pressing urgency of addressing Europe’s competitiveness challenges as a precondition for the EU realising its wider strategic objectives. Europe must act urgently to strengthen its economy and this can only work with ambitious simplification efforts. This imperative should transcend party political lines.  

As the Omnibus I now enters into trilogue discussions, policymakers must secure a strong mandate to improve the EU’s business environment.