The EU is reducing some sustainability and due-diligence obligations, but that does not necessarily mean businesses will need less supply-chain information. For shippers, the capabilities of their logistics partners could become increasingly important.

For years, businesses have been preparing for a more demanding era of European supply-chain regulation, with greater emphasis on sustainability, due diligence and visibility beyond their immediate suppliers.

Now Brussels is changing direction. The EU’s Omnibus simplification programme is reducing the scope of some requirements, delaying implementation and cutting the amount of sustainability information companies must report.

For shippers, particularly those outside the revised thresholds, that should reduce the direct administrative burden.

But something important has already changed. Large organisations have invested in systems and processes to understand their supply chains in far greater detail, while sustainability, procurement and logistics teams have become accustomed to collecting information that was rarely requested a decade ago.

Those expectations are unlikely simply to disappear.

Brussels reduces the regulatory burden

The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) has been substantially scaled back, focusing requirements on the largest businesses (>5,000 employees and net t/o >€1.5bn) and pushing implementation back to July 2029.

Sustainability reporting is also being simplified, with significant reductions in mandatory datapoints intended to lower reporting costs.

Importantly for supply chains, the EU has sought to limit the extent to which large organisations can pass excessive reporting demands down to smaller suppliers.

That should reduce unnecessary bureaucracy, but there is an important distinction between information companies are legally required to collect and the information they choose to obtain to manage risk, sustainability and supply-chain performance.

The demand for supply-chain data is already established

Early sustainability reporting provides an indication of how far corporate practices have already moved.

Deloitte’s analysis of 200 early adopters found particularly extensive reporting among consumer businesses. More than 90% disclosed emissions associated with purchased goods and services, while 94% reported emissions from upstream transport and distribution.

Industrial businesses were also incorporating Scope 3 emissions into climate targets and transition planning.

That matters for logistics because much of the information required to understand those emissions sits outside the shipper's own organisation.

Consider a manufacturer outsourcing European distribution to a freight forwarder. The forwarder may use several regional carriers, which could in turn subcontract individual movements to smaller hauliers.

The shipper may have a commercial relationship with one logistics provider while the physical movement involves several organisations.

Increasingly, businesses want to understand what happens further down that chain.

Which carrier moved the shipment? Which route and transport mode were used? Were subcontractors involved? What emissions were generated? Are appropriate compliance checks in place? Can the underlying information be verified?

Those questions have value beyond regulatory reporting. They can support procurement, corporate governance, customer commitments, risk management and decisions about how supply chains should be designed.

The forwarder's role is changing

This has implications for how shippers select logistics partners.

Price, capacity and service will remain fundamental, but increasingly they may form only part of the assessment, as visibility, data and compliance become more critical.

Price + capacity + service + visibility + data + compliance

A forwarder that can move cargo efficiently but struggles to provide reliable information about the underlying movement may become less attractive to businesses with sophisticated governance or sustainability requirements.

The strongest logistics partners will increasingly connect physical freight management with technology, supplier oversight and usable data.

That changes the forwarder's role from simply arranging transport to helping customers understand and control increasingly complex supply chains.

Better data can support better decisions

There is also a danger that greater transparency simply creates more information. The real value comes when shippers can use that information.

Emissions data provides a good example. Knowing the carbon footprint of an individual shipment supports reporting, but consistent data across modes, routes and origins can also help businesses compare alternatives and identify where operational changes could reduce emissions.

Metro's MVT ECO platform measures CO₂ equivalent emissions at consignment level across transport modes and routes, using recognised logistics emissions methodologies.

This gives customers the ability to examine emissions across their freight activity rather than relying solely on broad estimates, supporting Scope 3 reporting as well as longer-term supply-chain planning.

The same principle applies more broadly: forwarder technology should not simply produce data because somebody has asked for it. It should help shippers make better decisions.

Procurement may move faster than regulation

Perhaps the most important change will therefore come through procurement rather than legislation.

Large businesses do not need regulation to require particular standards from logistics providers. They can incorporate them into RFQs, supplier codes, operating procedures and contracts.

Requirements developed by multinational businesses can then spread through the market as other organisations adopt similar procurement standards.

It means even companies unaffected by CSDDD or CSRD requirements may ultimately benefit from logistics infrastructure originally developed in response to them.

Better carrier governance, reliable emissions measurement, stronger data and improved visibility have operational value whether or not a regulator asks for them.

Choosing logistics partners for what comes next

The EU's simplification programme should make compliance more proportionate for many European businesses.

But reducing regulation does not reverse the broader movement towards more transparent and accountable supply chains.

For shippers, that makes the capabilities sitting behind a freight rate increasingly important.

The forwarders best equipped for the future will not simply provide competitive transport. They will combine networks and operational expertise with the systems, processes and data that give customers greater visibility and control.

For businesses reviewing logistics partners, the question may therefore be shifting from “Can you move our freight?” to “Can you help us understand, control and demonstrate how our freight is moved, while reporting on emissions?”

Metro combines international freight expertise with supply-chain technology and emissions visibility through solutions including MVT ECO, helping customers turn increasingly sophisticated data requirements into practical supply-chain insight.