TotalEnergies and Siemens have urged European governments to abolish one of the EU’s flagship corporate sustainability laws. Both organizations recently revealed that scrapping the law will help to boost the continent’s competitiveness.
In a letter seen by Reuters, TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne and his Siemens AG counterpart Roland Busch complained to French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, on behalf of 46 European companies.
According to them, scrapping the rules would prove to European and international companies that governments across Europe are ready to make the continent competitive again.
“It is a clear and symbolic signal to European and international companies that the governments and the Commission are really engaged to restore competitiveness in Europe,” the letter dated October 6 read.
Siemens insisted that the current excessive regulations are seriously reducing Europe’s ability to compete globally across all sectors.
“The proposal to scrap the sustainability rules was one example where meaningful steps can be taken to reduce bureaucracy,” it added.
The letter further urged the European Union not to proceed with plans to cut industries’ free pollution permits next year, stressing the need for a reform of competition rules to allow more mergers by considering them in the context of the global market, rather than only Europe.
A spokesperson for TotalEnergies confirmed that the letter reflected the 46 companies’ top five priorities to improve Europe’s competitiveness.
Recall that the EU’s corporate sustainability due diligence directive was adopted in 2024 and requires companies to fix human rights and environmental issues within their supply chains to avoid facing fines of 5% of global turnover.
Siemens and Total’s plea for a total scrap of the rules amid negotiations by EU lawmakers and countries to exempt more companies from the law.
