Ribera, a Spanish socialist, is under enormous pressure to preserve the integrity of the EU’s green reporting rules. Both the Spanish government and the Socialists in the European Parliament wrote to the Commission this week warning against weakening the regulation.
The third official couldn’t confirm whether the draft the others were referencing was the latest version, but did say that at least one draft proposed unwinding the double materiality principle.
“There was one very unambitious draft. Then there was a very radical one” that went after double materiality, they said. “I believe we’re finding a balance now.”
Peter Liese, a European Parliament member who serves as the environmental spokesperson for the center-right European People’s Party (EPP) group, said there were “difficulties” in omnibus discussions. Liese also has close connections to von der Leyen’s cabinet.
“A possible compromise seems to be that the Commission ‘stops the clock’ and doesn’t put new obligations on companies for the time being until the simplification law has been agreed,” he said, insisting fast action on removing bureaucratic burdens is essential to “send the right signal to companies.”
A spokesperson for the European Commission declined to comment on internal discussions.
Marianne Gros contributed reporting.
