European Parliament approves further weakening of environmental sustainability laws

On Thursday, the European Parliament approved a further weakening of the "directive on corporate due diligence in respecting human rights and environmental protection". The vote came after months of pressure from companies and several governments, including the US and Qatar, which have warned of the impact of the laws on gas supplies to Europe.

The European Parliament decided that only companies with at least five thousand employees and a turnover of 1.5 billion euros should be subject to the obligations of the directive. At the same time, this change also removed the obligation for companies to set out plans to meet their climate commitments.

Swedish MEP Jorgen Warborn told Reuters that "the changes cut red tape and will save European companies around five billion euros a year".

(reuters, sie)