SHERIDAN, WYOMING – Feb. 27, 2025 – The European Commission has unveiled its plans for the Clean Industrial Deal (CID) and the draft Omnibus Package for sustainability reporting. Both measures aim to strengthen the competitiveness of European industry, promote bureaucracy reduction, and drive decarbonization. The German Industry Association SPECTARIS welcomes the objectives but sees a need for clarification regarding concrete implementation.
Key Impulses for Industry – Implementation is Crucial
The CID, with its investment volume of over 100 billion euros, is intended to specifically promote energy-intensive industries and CleanTech innovations. Simultaneously, the Omnibus Package is designed to relieve companies through simplified reporting obligations and streamline existing EU regulations. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular are set to benefit from reduced sustainability reporting.
“The EU's approach is correct: the competitiveness of European industry must be strengthened to avoid falling further behind in the global comparison with the USA and China. Excessive regulations have burdened European industry and impaired its innovative capacity,” explains Jörg Mayer, Managing Director of SPECTARIS.
Bureaucracy Reduction as a Core SPECTARIS Demand
Among other things, SPECTARIS calls for a simplification of sustainability reporting and due diligence obligations to reduce administrative burdens for companies. The Omnibus Package envisages savings of 6.3 billion euros in administrative costs – an important step, but its long-term effects are yet to be evaluated. A clear transitional arrangement is necessary to allow companies sufficient time for adjustment.
“So far, the Omnibus Package is only a political declaration of intent, which is already facing heavy criticism from the respective regulatory advocates. We hope that the EU Commission has the assertiveness to put its proposals into action and that the present Omnibus Package is only the beginning,” Mayer continues.
Furthermore, the discrepancy between national and EU requirements remains problematic: the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act subjects companies to significantly stricter reporting obligations than the European Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). “Here, alignment towards the EU is urgently needed to avoid competitive disadvantages for German companies,” Mayer emphasizes.
SPECTARIS will closely monitor the legislative process for the design of the Omnibus Package and actively advocate for practical solutions in the interest of German industry.
About SPECTARIS
SPECTARIS is the German Industry Association for Optics, Photonics, Analytical, and Medical Technology, headquartered in Berlin. The association represents approximately 400 predominantly export-oriented, medium-sized German companies. The Consumer Optics (ophthalmic optics, remote optics, photographic technology), Photonics, Medical Technology, and Analytical, Bio, and Laboratory Technology sectors generated a total turnover of over 90 billion euros in 2023 and employed around 353,000 people.
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