"By no means all companies welcome relaxation of green European rules," 24 February 2025

Food companies Nestlé and Unilever and cosmetics company l'Oréal distanced themselves from many of the objections their fellow multinationals raised in the pages before against the only just-introduced European sustainability regulations...

By no means all companies welcome far-reaching changes. "We shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater," says Bart Vandewaetere of food giant Nestlé (which has brands such as San Pellegrino, Maggi, KitKat, Nuts, Nescafé and Nespresso). The communications director of Nestlé Europe points out that for more than a decade, his company has voluntarily done a lot of research on the environmental impact and human rights issues in the supply chain of its products. "We have developed action plans for it because we now know which issues we have an impact on and which pose a threat to our business. We have been reporting on this ourselves for years. European regulations mean that more companies have to start doing that. That creates a level playing field and we welcome that.".

Unilever states in a statement sent to NRC that it - like Nestlé - fears that the level playing field will disappear if the legislation is changed. Moreover, according to Unilever, that could lead "to legal uncertainty and a lack of urgently needed planning certainty."...

Fears of a serious loosening and delay in green legislation are high among companies such as Nestlé, Unilever, Signify and Primark. These companies have already invested heavily to implement the new regulations. They sent letters to the European Commission in various alliances, urging them to stick to the policies they have initiated.