Simplification: Council adopts law to ‘stop-the-clock’ on due diligence rules for batteries 09:57 Simplification: Council adopts new law to ‘stop-the-clock’ on due diligence[...]

The Council adopted today a new law to ease EU rules and thus boost EU competitiveness in the field of batteries. The main goal is to postpone by two years, until 18 August 2027, the date of application of relevant due diligence obligations to give batteries producers and exporters more time to prepare.

The new regulation is part of the so-called 'Omnibus IV' package. Omnibus packages are 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 put in place due diligence policies, have them verified and periodically audited by a third-party verification body and publicly report on their due diligence practices to prevent or reduce batteries' adverse impacts on the environment, including their waste management.

The new law provides additional time to battery makers and exporters to comply with these new environmental due diligence rules. 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.

In addition, the Commission will be required to publish 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.

Next steps

The legislative act will be published in the EU's Official Journal in the coming days and enter into force the day after this publication.

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.

The "Omnibus IV" package also contains proposals 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 proposals 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.

• Regulation amending Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 as regards battery due diligence policies (Omnibus IV), 18 July 2025
• Regulation as regards obligations of economic operators concerning battery due diligence policies, Outcome of the European Parliament's first reading (Strasbourg, 7 to 10 July 2025)
• Regulation on obligations of economic operations concerning battery due diligence policies, Council mandate, 18 June 2025
• Regulation on obligations of economic operations concerning battery due diligence policies, Commission proposal, 21 May 2025