A majority of European companies support robust sustainability rules and see them as essential for competitiveness and investment.
E3G commissioned a YouGov survey of 2,500 business leaders across Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Poland in August 2025. The survey results reveal strong support for robust corporate sustainability and due diligence rules, with business leaders’ opinions directly contradicting many proposals currently being negotiated as part of the EU Omnibus package to simplify sustainable finance rules.
The survey results deliver a clear message from European businesses: Sustainable business is competitive business.
- 63% of business leaders believe it is fair for large companies to be required to implement a plan to transition to a green economy. Only 11% disagree.
- Over half (55%) of business leaders believe that becoming more environmentally sustainable is important for their company’s competitiveness, while 21% think it’s unimportant.
- Half (50%) believe that regularly collecting and reporting sustainability data helps attract investment, and 18% disagree.
- Over two thirds (68%) of business leaders believe that the EU and European companies should set a global example for sustainability standards in business practices, versus just 10% who disagree.
- Business leaders show a preference to keep sustainability reporting thresholds far lower than those proposed in the Omnibus, with a minimum of 250 employees the most popular company size threshold for mandatory reporting under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
Read the full survey results here: What European business leaders think about the EU’s corporate sustainability and due diligence rules
