• Irish MEPs criticised for siding with extreme right in voting to gut key EU laws
• Irish government position described as ‘incoherent’ after u-turn on laws it voted for just over a year ago
• Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil MEPs clash online while several sit out the vote

Tuesday 16 December 2025 – Aid agencies and rights groups have strongly criticised the Irish government for reversing its position on EU environmental and human rights safeguards, after the European Parliament today voted to gut landmark EU laws designed to ensure that large multinational companies address abuses in their global supply chains and end corporate harm and exploitation, particularly in poorer developing countries.

European lawmakers voted to pass ‘Omnibus 1’, a vast ‘slash and burn’ deregulation package that will significantly weaken core human rights, workers’ rights, environmental and climate protections. The package is a flagship proposal of Ursua von der Leyen’s second term as European Commission President, aimed at lowering corporate standards in the name of ‘competitiveness’.

Evie Clarke is Policy Coordinator of the Irish Coalition for Business and Human Rights, a coalition of civil society organisations that includes Christian Aid Ireland, Trócaire, Oxfam Ireland, ActionAid Ireland and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, as well as academic experts campaigning for greater corporate accountability based on respect for human rights and the environment.

She said: “Today’s vote is a devastating blow to people and planet. European lawmakers have eviscerated years of progress and handed corporations a licence to harm. This slash-and-burn deregulation package drags Europe into a race to the bottom and sells out the communities who have fought hardest for justice. Irish government MEPs siding with the extreme right to weaken these laws is indefensible and the Irish Government’s incoherent stance, denying the deregulatory nature of these reforms, collapses under the Commission’s acknowledgment that this is a deregulatory agenda.”

In a significant break with decades of precedent, all Fine Gael and several Fianna Fáil MEPs broke the so-called ‘cordon sanitaire’ and voted with extreme right parties in the European Parliament to support the deregulatory agenda, despite Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher last month describing the proposals as “deeply sad, shameful” and criticising Fine Gael MEPs for moving from “flirting with the far-right to getting into bed with the far right.” The Irish Government also failed to defend these key protections, echoing corporate talking points on ‘competitiveness’, despite voting them into law less than a year ago and insisting it had not changed position.

Conor O’Neill, Head of Policy at Christian Aid Ireland, said: “In 2024, after years of hard-fought negotiations, the Irish Government voted through landmark new EU laws to ensure that the largest, most powerful companies would be required to address deforestation, oil spills and abuses of workers in their global supply chains. But the ink had barely dried on these minimum standards when Ursula von der Leyen announced plans to gut them completely. The Irish Government’s response has been totally incoherent, ultimately backing the removal of standards it helped introduce less than a year ago. They were just as disjointed in the European Parliament, where Government MEPs took different positions on the proposal, some describing it as shameful, before largely siding with the extreme right anyway. It’s a betrayal of promises made to stand up for workers and communities who depend on these protections.”

David Joyce, International Officer with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, said: “Reducing corporate accountability to workers’ rights abuses in their supply chains is the wrong move for Europe. The EU – supported by the Irish Government – strategically had set a good legal framework to leverage the strength of its internal market and set fair competition beyond its borders to protect workers’ rights in and outside the EU. Slashing these measures will continue to expose workers here to cut-throat competition.

“Europe will never win a race to the bottom on workers conditions. This stunted approach is a short-term shot in the arm to shareholders, but it undermines the long-term strategy of securing and creating quality jobs here in Europe.”

Chris O’Connell, Policy and Advocacy Advisor at Trócaire, said: “We live in a world which is on a crash-course for 2.8⁰C of warming, and in a country which is facing up to €26 billion in fines for failures to meet climate commitments. In that context, for the Irish government and some Irish MEPs to give a greenlight to big companies to continue polluting without even a duty to make plans to transition away from fossil fuels is not only a remarkable capitulation to corporate lobbying, but an act of self-harm and a betrayal of communities in the Global South and of future generations.”

Bríd McGrath, Director of Public Affairs at Oxfam Ireland, said: “This is a dark chapter for the European Union. Today the EU has removed the obligation for companies to develop and implement climate transition plans. We know that strong regulation is necessary to protect the environment and human rights. European citizens and people around the world will pay the price for today’s decision.

“The whole process was rushed and bypassed essential obligations including carrying out an impact assessment and consulting civil society. Climate change is real and the cost of inaction – for businesses and the rest of us – will be far greater than acting now.”