Companies are facing an increasing number of European laws on responsible and sustainable business practices. Examples include the CSRD, CSDDD, Deforestation Regulation, Forced Labour Regulation and the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation. Although these laws have the same objective – protecting people, the environment and the climate from the negative impacts of economic activities – each law has its own scope, structure and type of obligations, and the way they are supervised also differs from one law to another. Furthermore, these laws often indirectly impose obligations also on other companies in the value chain.
When companies implement all these obligations relating to responsible and sustainable business practices separately, the result is unnecessary paperwork and costs. This also makes it more difficult to achieve the objective underlying EU sustainability legislation. To help companies comply with these obligations more efficiently and effectively, an expert working group from Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), together with project partners RBConnect, Future Up and foodFIRST, has developed a integrated implementation approach. This enables companies to apply the various sustainability rules in a coordinated manner within their policies and business practices.
An integrated approach to sustainability legislation can offer a range of benefits. Firstly, it helps companies comply with legislation in a smarter and more efficient way. This reduces duplication of effort, lowers costs and clarifies what is expected of them. The approach that has been developed supports businesses with clear steps, ensuring they do not get lost in the maze of regulations. The result is greater clarity and coherence, and reduction of the regulatory burden that companies perceive to exist. Another benefit is that it helps to strengthen the value chains of Dutch companies and, in doing so, boosts their earning capacity and security of supply. This may also increase companies’ willingness to implement the legislation, including by companies that are currently reluctant due to the complexity and accumulation of obligations.
An integrated approach does not come about by itself, however. It requires broad government leadership, coordinated support by government agencies and an integrated approach by supervisory authorities as well. It also requires awareness raising and capacity building, not only amongst companies and their financiers, accountants and legal advisers, but also amongst other stakeholders such as policymakers, implementing organisations, knowledge institutions, regulators, trade unions and NGOs. The EUR expert working group is currently working on an educational initiative aimed at promoting the necessary awareness and capacity building by incorporating the knowledge and insights on the integrated approach to EU sustainability legislation into the curriculum at Erasmus University. They received the EUR Sustainability Award 2026 for this ‘SustainEd EUr’ initiative.
The integrated approach to EU sustainability legislation that is described here was developed as part of a pilot project for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, which was completed in June 2026. The aim of the pilot project was to contribute to more effective and efficient implementation of EU sustainability legislation by businesses. It ties in with broader discussions on regulatory burden and simplification, as reflected in the European Commission’s recent Omnibus proposals. The pilot project was explicitly not aimed at amending existing legislation, but at optimising its implementation by companies.
Through multi-stakeholder meetings, pilot training sessions and a sounding board group, set up by project partners RBConnect, Future Up and foodFIRST, input was gathered on the issues and on possible solutions from businesses and other stakeholders, including policymakers, regulators, trade associations, trade unions, NGOs and academics. Based on this input and on a legal analysis of the substantive overlap between existing and forthcoming EU sustainability legislation, the EUR expert working group, in collaboration with its project partners, developed an integrated implementation methodology that is aligned with business practice.
The results of the pilot project show that it is possible for companies to take a coordinated approach to the obligations arising directly or indirectly from various EU sustainability laws. In this regard, the 6-step due diligence model set out in the OECD Guidelines provides a logical and accessible basis for the integrated implementation of obligations arising from a wide range of laws aimed at protecting health, safety, the environment, the climate and human rights. A roadmap then uses the OECD’s six-step model to bridge the gap between the legal obligations set out in legislation and companies’ day-to-day practices. The roadmap contains practical guidance for companies on how to deal with obligations arising from multiple sustainability laws simultaneously, or in relation to complex supply chains. The findings of the pilot project have been incorporated into a training course and an e-learning programme for companies on the integrated approach.
Within the pilot project, the EUR expert working group was responsible for analysing the substantive overlap between existing and forthcoming EU sustainability legislation and for developing a coherent implementation approach based on that analysis. As part of the pilot project, in addition to the core team, Eva Smulders (CSR coordinator at the Support Centre of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency, RVO) and Frank Peen (strategic adviser at the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate, ILT) also participated in the working group. In addition to her substantive contribution to the working group, project leader Liesbeth Enneking was responsible, amongst other things, for drafting the final report on the working group’s findings, coordinating with the project partners throughout the project, and, in collaboration with the project partners, drafting an overarching final report containing policy recommendations.
Since the completion of the pilot project ‘Integrated Implementation of EU Sustainability Legislation’ in June 2026, those involved have been working on various follow-up projects to further develop and promote the integrated approach to sustainability legislation that was developed within the pilot project. One such project is the initiative ‘Teaching Integrated EU Sustainability Legislation: Bridging Law, Policy and Business Practice’, in short SustainEd Eur. As part of this initiative, the EUR expert working group is working to integrate knowledge and insights regarding the integrated approach to EU sustainability legislation into the curriculum at Erasmus University. The aim of the initiative is to develop, in collaboration with experts from policy and business practice, multidisciplinary university education that enables the next generation of young professionals to support companies and other stakeholders in implementing EU sustainability legislation in an integrated manner.
At the opening of the 2026–2027 academic year, the EUR expert working group was awarded the EUR Sustainability Award 2026 for this initiative.
Reports, presentations and downloads
The final report by the EUR expert working group as part of the pilot project ‘Integrated implementation of EU sustainability legislation’ sets out the description of a framework for the integrated approach to EU sustainability legislation. In addition, the project partners in the pilot project have jointly drawn up an overarching final report setting out the key findings and recommendations for policymakers, as well as a four-pager summarising the outcomes of the project. See OpenOverheid for a full overview of the pilot project’s outcomes. The reports from the multi-stakeholder sessions can be found on the foodFIRST webpage.
Further information on the SustainEd EUr educational initiative, its significance from a sustainability perspective, and the outcomes and societal impact that the EUR expert working group aims to achieve through this initiative can be found in the project’s nomination for the EUR Sustainability Award 2026, which was submitted by Erasmus School of Law.
About the EUR expert working group
The expert working group consists of an multidisciplinary core team of four professors from Erasmus University Rotterdam with expertise in sustainability legislation, supply chain responsibility and societal impact. They are:
- Liesbeth Enneking, professor of Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability at Erasmus School of Law;
- Karen Maas, professor of Accounting and Sustainability and scientific director of the Impact Centre Erasmus;
- Martijn Scheltema, professor of Private Law at Erasmus School of Law with a specialization in business and human rights;
- Albert Veenstra, professor of International Trade and Logistices at Rotterdam School of Management.
The work of the EUR Expert Working Group is closely aligned with EUR’s broader mission to contribute to solving today’s complex societal challenges through multidisciplinary research and collaboration with societal stakeholders, thereby creating a positive societal impact.
Do you want to find out more about the EUR expert working group or get involved? Please email enneking@law.eur.nl.