How Europe can combine sustainability transparency and competitiveness?

As Europe debates the future of sustainability regulation, one question is becoming increasingly urgent: can the EU maintain ambitious environmental and social standards without weakening the competitiveness of its companies?

In this Video Decoding episode, Brian Hill, Research Director at CNRS and Professor at HEC Paris, explores a new proposal developed in the HEC Paris policy paper Squaring Disclosure Regulation and Competitiveness. The report argues that current sustainability reporting frameworks — especially the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) — are often perceived as too complex, costly, and difficult to implement.

Rather than abandoning sustainability ambitions, the researchers propose a different approach: shifting disclosure requirements from the company level to the product level through standardized digital scorecards. The objective is to make sustainability information clearer, more comparable, and easier to use for consumers, investors, and policymakers alike.

The discussion sheds light on a broader challenge facing Europe today: how to regulate responsibly in a global economy where competitiveness, transparency, and environmental goals increasingly intersect. It also shows how academic research can contribute practical solutions to ongoing policy debates.