The Council of the EU has published the final text of Directive (EU) 2024/… of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 March 2024 amending Directives 2011/61/EU and 2009/65/EC as regards delegation arrangements, liquidity risk management, supervisory reporting, the provision of depositary and custody services, and loan origination by alternative investment funds (AIFMD II).

The Council of the EU has published the text of the Directive amending Directive 2014/59/EU and Regulation (EU) NO 806/2014 as regards certain aspects of the minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL), also known as the ‘daisy chain’ directive. The directive will enter into force on the 20th day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the EU.

The Council of the EU has published the final text of Regulation (EU) 2024/… of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 March 2024 amending Regulations (EU) No 260/2012 and (EU) 2021/1230 and Directives 98/26/EC and (EU) 2015/2366 as regards instant credit transfers in euro.

The Council of the EU has published the final text of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU).../...amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/980 (which supplements Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 (the EU Prospectus Regulation)) in relation to the reduced content and the standardised format and sequence of the EU Follow-on prospectus and the EU Growth issuance prospectus.

The Council of the European Union has published the final compromise texts on parts of the anti-money laundering package that aim to protect EU citizens and the EU's financial system against money laundering and terrorist financing. Under the new package, all rules applying to the private sector will be transferred to a new regulation, while the directive will deal with the organisation of institutional anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) systems at national level in the member states.

The Council of the European Union has published the final text of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) .../... supplementing the European Green Bond Regulation (EU) 2023/2631 with regard to regulatory technical standards (RTS) specifying the criteria for assessing the appropriateness, adequacy and effectiveness of the systems, resources and procedures of external reviewers, their compliance function, internal policies and procedures, assessment methodologies and information used for reviews, as well as the information and the form and content of applications for recognition of third-country external reviewers.

The Council of the EU has published an update on the European Parliament's first reading of amendments to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (EU) 2022/2464 (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (EU) 2024/1760 (CSDDD). On 3 April 2025, the European Parliament adopted its position, rejecting all proposed amendments and accepting the Commission's proposal. The key changes include postponing sustainability reporting obligations by two years for companies initially required to report from 2025 and 2026. Additionally, the transposition deadline for the CSDDD is extended to July 2027, with further extensions to accommodate delays and ensure coherence with other legislative proposals. Large companies are required to report in 2027 and 2028, while small and medium-sized undertakings (SMEs) are required to report in 2029. The amendments emphasise legal clarity, reduced administrative burdens, and alignment with the Green Deal and Sustainable Finance Action Plan. Member States are expected to implement these amendments by 31 December 2025. The directive will take effect immediately after publication in the Official Journal.

The Council of the European Union has ratified a comprehensive trade agreement with Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador. This agreement aims to foster a closer, long-term trade relationship between the EU and these Andean countries, encompassing various sectors such as services, intellectual property, public procurement, and human rights. The gradual market opening facilitated by the agreement is expected to boost trade and investment flows between the parties. While most of the agreement (except parts referring to disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the rights and obligations existing under the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement, administrative proceedings and review and appeal) has been provisionally applied since 2013 with Columbia and Peru, and Ecuador since 2017, its full entry into force on 1 November 2024 aims to provide increased legal certainty and stability for this trading relationship.

The Council of the European Union has announced that it has reached an agreement on strengthening the rules on retail investor protection. The retail investment package aims to support individual consumers who wish to invest on the EU’s capital markets, by better protecting their investments, providing them with clearer information about investment products and ensuring more transparency and disclosure.

The Council of the EU has reached a general approach on the proposed Directive on Soil Monitoring and Resilience (Soil Monitoring Law), which will aim to put an obligation on soil health monitoring, provide guiding principles for sustainable soil management and address circumstances where soil contamination may be a health and environmental risk in line with the EU's healthy soils by 2050 target. The Council's general approach also includes more flexibilities to Member States on soil measurements, as well as the potential to use existing data and monitoring systems and land take mitigation. The Council will now enable its rotating presidency to start talks with the EU Parliament on the final shape of the text.

The Council of the European Union has signed off the Omnibus I simplification package, giving its final approval to measures to simplify corporate sustainability reporting (CSRD) and corporate sustainability due diligence (CS3D) requirements to boost EU competitiveness. The directive raises the thresholds for CSRD to companies with more than 1,000 employees and €450m net annual turnover, with similar adjustments for third country undertakings, and provide transition exemptions for wave one companies falling out of scope in 2025 and 2026. The CS3D scope is also narrowed to companies with more than 5,000 employees and €1.5bn net turnover, removing the obligation to adopt a transition plan for climate change mitigation, deleting the EU harmonised liability regime and introducing a maximum penalty cap of 3% of net worldwide turnover.

The Council of the European Union (the Council) and European Parliament reached a provisional agreement to simplify reporting requirements in financial services and investment support. The Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) has also agreed with the Council on new rules to avoid double reporting and reduce the administrative burden for the EU financial sector.