ANTWERP, Belgium — Only a rearguard weekend fight by senior European Commission officials prevented the rollback of major green finance rules this week, documents seen by POLITICO show, highlighting bubbling tensions over Brussels’ drive to weaken EU environmental laws.
On Wednesday, the commission presented a sweeping policy package responding to industry concerns that high energy prices and proliferating green reporting obligations were hampering their ability to compete with China and the United States.
The slate of proposals includes significant cuts to recently passed green legislation, exempting most of the EU’s companies from reporting on their environmental impact and climate risk exposure, and on whether their activities align with the bloc’s sustainability criteria. Climate campaigners and many lawmakers swiftly decried the decision.
But until a few days ago, the EU executive was planning even more severe rollbacks. Drafts circulated within the commission on Friday show that Brussels wanted to render its green finance classification entirely voluntary and weaken related sustainability standards.
