Understanding EU directives on sustainability is becoming crucial for businesses aiming to thrive globally. The latest chapter of the “Navigating Global Markets” series, held on 29 April 2025, focused on the theme “Decoding EU Sustainability Directives for your international value chains”. This webinar highlighted the impact of major these EU regulations and featured practical experiences from Luxembourg-based companies, offering valuable insights and actionable strategies for businesses to stay ahead in the evolving regulatory landscape.
The event opened with welcome remarks by Anne-Marie Loesch, Head of Sustainability & Business Development at the House of Sustainability, who acknowledged how the various regulatory texts can overwhelm companies, whether they are entering new markets or are already well-established in another country. She highlighted that managing an international value chain can trigger pan-European obligations and requires adherence to the specific requirements of each country.
To decipher each upcoming directive and the obligations they imply, Juliette Petit, Sustainability & Business Development Advisor, delivered an insightful and comprehensive presentation that provided a detailed understanding on how these directives apply. She highlighted that the obligations could vary based on factors such as sector, size / turnover of the company or the type of the international presence constituting the value chains.
Following this, Katarina Gerard, Senior Legal Advisor at Legal & Tax, conducted a legal deep dive of the evolving “Omnibus” legislative package, covering the CSRD, CSDDD, and the EU Taxonomy. Her intervention helped companies understand how to anticipate regulatory obligations and turn compliance into a competitive advantage.
The webinar also featured a panel discussion showcasing the efforts of companies that have proactively geared up to comply to the upcoming obligations.
Harry Xenos, Manager for Continuous Improvement & ESG Coordinator at Kiswire, shared the roadmap that guided the integration of sustainability principles into their global strategy. As a multinational with EU headquarters in Luxembourg, Kiswire highlighted both the opportunities and challenges of complying with these obligations.
Armin Neises, CEO & Founder of WAVES S.à r.l. and Chief Sustainability Officer of pacemaker.ai, offered actionable tips on how to adopt sustainability principles. He emphasised that this transformation not only enhances a company’s reputation and builds trust with international stakeholders, but also offers a competitive edge when entering new markets.
Concluding with an interactive session between the participants and the experts, this webinar underscored the importance for companies to balance the efforts of complying to sustainability principles against the benefits they can offer.
To stay informed and ahead of developments in the evolving sustainability legal framework, consult the timeline available on the House of Sustainability’s website: Legal framework.
(Re)discover the presentations and discussions in the replay here
Coming up next: Webinar on the opportunities of public tenders, on 20 May, more info here: Expanding Your Global Outreach Through Public Procurement.