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The Omnibus I political agreement announced yesterday broadly eases the sustainability compliance and due diligence burden for businesses under the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), giving much-needed certainty to businesses. It is a significant achievement for the EU’s simplification agenda and ongoing efforts to reduce the regulatory burden. Specifically, the flexibility introduced in terms of the risk-based approach and how companies need to define adverse impacts will alleviate most of the excessive burden that existed under the original CSDDD. The revised transposition timeline of CSDDD to 2029 will also give all parties the necessary time to prepare for implementation.  

However, it appears that EU policymakers did not yet sufficiently tackle how these rules apply to the global activities of companies and groups – for example, by limiting the scope of the CSDDD to only those products and services with a logical link to the EU. This is a missed opportunity with far-reaching consequences that keeps legal uncertainty in place for global firms and their supply chains.  This oversight on extraterritorial impact will make the CSDDD more difficult for policymakers to implement and monitor and risks creating confusing overlap with other jurisdictions’ rules. 

The EU must use the next steps in the policy-making process – including implementing measures, guidance and future reviews – to fix outstanding challenges in both the CSDDD and the CSRD. In particular, clearer rules on when and how EU legislation impacts global business activities would give companies the predictability they need to invest and support sustainability investments. 

On Monday, 5 December 2025, AmCham EU hosted the Honorable Andrew Puzder, United States Ambassador to the European Union, for an evening marking his first few months in Brussels. The reception opened with remarks from Liam Benham (Boeing), Chair and Malte Lohan, CEO, AmCham EU Ambassador Puzder shared his initial impressions and outlined his priorities for the US Mission to the EU. With over 200 attendees, we concluded the evening with an informal networking session featuring US-themed food and refreshments, offering further opportunity for open dialogue and connection with the Ambassador and his team. 

On Tuesday, 2 December, AmCham EU took part in a roundtable discussion with Christopher Landau, US Deputy Secretary of State. With the implementation of the EU-US Framework Agreement moving forward, the discussions focused on building a more stable and competitive transatlantic business environment. Participants discussed the importance of an open Single Market and the urgency to move ahead with the EU’s work on simplification. The exchange also underlined the value of the transatlantic marketplace as a springboard for American companies to compete globally. Strengthening the partnership makes both sides more resilient and better positioned to respond to strategic challenges, including those posed by non-market economies.