Simplification: Council agrees position to ‘stop-the-clock’ on due diligence rules for batteries
Member states’ representatives (Coreper) approved today the Council’s position on one of the Commission’s proposals to simplify EU rules and thus boost EU competitiveness in the field of batteries. The main goal is to postpone by two years the date of application of relevant due diligence obligations to allow economic operators placing batteries on the EU market more time to prepare.
The proposal forms part of the so-called ‘Omnibus IV’ package adopted by the Commission on 21 May 2025 to simplify legislation, as part of the EU’s broader effort to support industrial competitiveness by reducing regulatory complexity.
As part of the EU’s battery regulation, adopted in 2023, battery producers are obliged to publicly report on their due diligence practices to prevent or reduce batteries’ adverse impacts on the environment, including their waste management. The Commission proposal provides additional time to battery makers and exporters to comply with these new environmental due diligence rules by extending the deadline from 18 August 2025 to 18 August 2027. The postponement will also offer more time for the setting up of third-party verification bodies since several problems have been identified with their authorisation process due to the absence of a determined standard for accreditation.
In addition, the Commission intends to publish the due diligence guidelines one year before the obligations take effect to give timely guidance to businesses and help ensure a smoother implementation of the new rules. Finally, the Commission proposes to lighten the administrative burden of the due diligence rules by requiring companies to publish reports on their compliance every three years instead of annually.
In view of significant implications for the business community, the Polish presidency has treated this proposal with utmost priority aiming to provide EU battery industry the necessary legal certainty regarding its reporting and due diligence obligations. Member states agreed with the presidency’s sense of urgency.
Next steps
The presidency will now enter negotiations with the European Parliament to reach an agreement on this proposal as soon as possible.
Background
In October 2024, the European Council called on all EU institutions, member states and stakeholders, as a matter of priority, to take work forward, notably in response to the challenges identified in the reports by Enrico Letta (‘Much more than a market’) and Mario Draghi (‘The future of European competitiveness’). The Budapest declaration of 8 November 2024 subsequently called for ‘launching a simplification revolution’, by ensuring a clear, simple and smart regulatory framework for businesses and drastically reducing administrative, regulatory and reporting burdens, in particular for SMEs.
On 20 March 2025, EU leaders urged the co-legislators to take work forward on these Omnibus simplification packages as a matter of priority and with a high level of ambition, with a view to finalising them as soon as possible in 2025. On 21 May 2025, and as part of the “Omnibus IV” package, the Commission put forward a proposal to amend Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 regarding the obligations of economic operators concerning battery due diligence policies. The package also contains a proposal for a directive and for a regulation on mid-caps, a simplification of certain data protection obligations for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small mid-caps (SMCs), and a proposal for a directive and a regulation regarding the digitalisation and alignment of common specifications amending 20 pieces of EU product legislation under single market rules.