Tracking the Omnibus Simplification Package: An Overview of the EU Ordinary Legislative Procedure

By Paula Williams

Introduction 

For professionals in the sustainability community, the EU’s proposed Omnibus Simplification Package has been a focus since it was published by the European Commission earlier this year.

As the proposed legislation progresses through the ordinary legislative procedure, each milestone elicits a flurry of summaries, opinions, and speculation among policy experts and sustainability professionals, on social media and elsewhere. For those who are unfamiliar with the intricacies of EU institutional law, it can be overwhelming to understand what is happening at each step, and what that might mean for the finalized legislation.  With this in mind, our advice for sustainability professionals seeking to keep abreast throughout this process include:

1. Understand that while we can certainly sense the prevailing political mood with respect to the Omnibus, it is very unlikely that we will have full certainty before early 2026.
2. Be prepared for the discourse and social media activity around the Omnibus Simplification Package to ease slightly between now and mid-October as the European Parliament aligns on their position. This does not mean momentum is lost or signal other political headwinds, it is just part of the typical process.
3. With respect to human rights specifically, remember the UN Guiding Principles on business and human rights advocate for a ‘smart mix of measures both mandatory and voluntary.’ Regulation should be just one of a suite of measures to ensuring respect for human rights. Companies can, and should, continue to advance leveraging voluntary structures such as the UNGPs to continue maturing their programs.

For those who wish to understand more about where the process is currently, and what the next steps will be, this blog provides an overview of the typical legislative processes and highlights the three EU institutions involved and their role in this process. We then cover key milestones in the legislative process, and outline when we might expect an outcome.

What EU institutions are involved, and what is their role in this process? 

The European Commission 

In this context, the role of the European Commission is to propose legislation. Once the legislation is proposed, their role evolves to providing technical guidance and acting as a broker between the two co-legislators: the European Parliament (EP) and the European Council (the Council). The Commision is not neutral, however, having drafted the legislation they are likely to seek to defend it. If the Commission considers that the amendments made by co-legislators excessively change the proposal, it has the right to withdraw its proposal, however, proposal withdrawal is a rare occurrence and highly unlikely in this instance.

The European Council 

The Council represents the governments of the 27 EU Member States; they must align on a single position reflecting the views and concerns of each Member State. In theory each of the 27 Member States has an equal say with respect to the Council’s draft, in practice there is often politics at play and frequently larger, wealthier, states have outsized political influence.

The European Parliament 

The European Parliament is an elected body with 720 Members of European Parliament (MEPs) elected from across the EU. Broadly speaking, the number of MEPs from each Member State is proportional to its population.  Within the European Parliament MEPs align across various political groups, based on their political ideologies, rather than their country of origin.  With respect to the European parliament and in the context of the ordinary legislative procedure it is important to also highlight   important to highlight:

• European Parliament Committees: The European Parliament has around 20 standing committees, each one dealing with a specific area of interest. For example, JURI is the committee on legal affairs and ENVI is the Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety. Owing to the broad nature of the Omnibus, multiple committees across the Parliament are contributing to the Parliament file.
• The Rapporteur: The rapporteur is an MEP who has been appointed to lead in drafting the Parliament’s position on the Omnibus Simplification package. The rapporteur for the Omnibus Simplification Package is Swedish MEP Jörgen Warborn.

Political nuances such as which Member State holds the presidency of the Council, which committee takes the lead on a particular proposal, and the personal politics of the rapporteur leading the process can influence the outcomes of legislative processes. As such, there has been much discussion and opining as to what each outcome or decision may mean for the ultimate fate of the legislation.

There was a lot of activity towards the end of June. What happened, and what have we learned?

The publication of the Presidency Compromise Text on Omnibus simplification package, outlining the position of one of the co-legislators, the European Council, was published on June 23rd. This is not the final version of the law, it is the Council’s text for negotiation.

We also saw activity from the European Parliament as they work to align on their text for negotiation. June 24th the rapporteur, Jörgen Warborn, presented the draft report to the JURI committee. MEPs (individually or as political groups) and the committees that have delivered opinions on the file, can table amendments. There will be several meetings where negotiations take place and alignment within the Parliament, is sought. The first of which is scheduled for July 15th. This process will extend to October of this year when JURI will have a vote on the draft and adopted amendments. Following this, the draft and adopted amendments will be debated and further amendments may be tabled at the Plenary, before a full Plenary vote to establish the Parliament’s position to proceed for negotiations.

The image below summarizes where we are now and what is expected over the next nine months. 

What will happen then?

Trilogue is a process of negotiation among delegations from the three institutions, to support the co-legislators in aligning on a compromise text. These negotiations take place behind closed doors. For the Omnibus Simplification Package, this is expected to begin in late 2025 and extend into 2026. During trilogues the delegations compare their positions and attempt to find common ground. They will work through the legal texts, often line by line, proposing changes, adding clarifications, and making concessions.

The length of trilogues can vary, depending on factors such as the technical complexity of the proposed legislation, political sensitivities, and the extent to which the Parliament and Council’s positions diverge. If both positions are relatively aligned going into the negotiation, we can expect the process to conclude quickly, but if the positions are quite far from each other, then we might expect a lengthier process before a compromise text is adopted.

Once the Trilogues conclude, the compromise text must go back to the Council and the Parliament for what is known as a second reading. If both institutions approve the compromise text it then proceeds to law. If either institution does not approve, the option of another trilogue and third reading is possible, but this has been relatively rare in recent times.

Article One will continue to monitor any upcoming regulatory changes and share updates as they arise. To learn more and explore what steps you and your company can take to ensure preparedness, please reach out at hello@articleoneadvisors.com.