#15 – Spain in the dark, but the EU focuses on bureaucracy

🌎 Global Insight

💡 Spanish Blackout: The Industrial Supply Chain Tested by Darkness

The blackout on April 28th that hit Spain and Portugal paralyzed critical infrastructures, transport, and industry, revealing deep vulnerabilities in the management of supply chains. Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, and Porto were without electricity for hours. Traffic came to a standstill, trains halted, and industrial production was abruptly interrupted.

According to Red Eléctrica de España (REE), the blackout, referred to as "el cero," was caused by a strong voltage fluctuation that knocked out a significant portion of the Spanish grid, dragging Portugal, heavily dependent on energy imports, down with it. Even southern France was affected, confirming the high degree of interconnection—and vulnerability—of European energy infrastructures.

The event occurred when the Spanish grid was more than 70% powered by renewable sources, mainly solar and wind. While the geographical distribution of renewable sources reduces the risk of localized events, it exposes the system to sudden imbalances if not supported by storage systems and sufficient stable sources.

As Andrew Gordon, Managing Director UK&I at Eaton, observed, "it’s not just about preventing the disruption, but how a company can safely restore operations when the crisis hits."

The Iberian blackout highlights three crucial needs for procurement and supply chain management: investing in energy continuity, diversifying suppliers and logistics channels, and rethinking inventory for resilience.

It's not about accumulating inefficiencies, but building systems capable of absorbing shocks without interrupting operations.

🔗 Source: Supply Chain Digital

📉 Tough February for Italian Industry: Declining Revenues and Confidence

In February 2025, Italy’s industrial revenue fell again after January's recovery. According to Istat, there was a 0.4% decrease in value and a 1.3% drop in volume, particularly penalized by the domestic market (-1.3% in value, -2.2% in volume), while exports held steady (+1.2% in value, +0.3% in volume). Services also slowed: -1.3% in both value and volume.

The automotive sector (-26% year-on-year) and leather goods (-7%) weighed heavily on industrial performance. In contrast, other means of transport (+30%) and pharmaceuticals (+12%) showed growth. Only capital goods (+2.5%) and energy (+0.2%) increased, while intermediate goods (-1.1%) and consumer goods (-2.7%) declined.

For the December 2024–February 2025 quarter, industry grew by 0.8% in value and 0.5% in volume, while services increased by 0.4%. However, on a year-on-year basis, the results remain negative: -1.5% in value and -2.1% in volume for industry, partly due to one fewer working day, and -1.2% in value and -2.7% in volume for services.

Further worsening the outlook is the drop in confidence indices in April, both among families and businesses. Thus, Italian industry faces an uncertain 2025, with weak domestic demand, international volatility, and uncertain growth prospects.

🔗 Source: Il Sole 24 Ore

🖼️ Meme of the Day

⚖️ Compliance Focus

The European Commission Simplifies EUDR Compliance

The European Commission has introduced new operational simplifications to facilitate the application of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) while maintaining environmental goals.

In force since June 2023, the EUDR bans the placing on the European market of products linked to deforestation, imposing strict due diligence on raw materials like palm oil, beef, timber, coffee, cocoa, rubber, and soy, as well as derived products.

Companies must trace products down to the individual plot of land, ensuring no deforestation has occurred after December 31, 2020. The obligation will apply to large companies by the end of 2024 and to SMEs by mid-2025.

After consultations with stakeholders and international partners, the Commission has introduced simplifications and clarifications to reduce administrative burdens, including:

• Annual declarations instead of per shipment or batch.

• Reuse of due diligence declarations for reimportations.

• Submission via authorized representatives for corporate groups.

• Simplified obligations for downstream operators, who will only need to collect and use the reference numbers of supplier declarations.

Updated guide document link: EUDR Guide

🔗 Sources: ESG News European Commission

European Parliament Approves “Stop the Clock”

On April 3, 2025, the European Parliament voted with a broad majority to postpone the application of the CSRD and CSDDD directives, aiming to ensure a more gradual and sustainable transition for companies.

This postponement, dubbed “Stop the Clock”, is part of the “Omnibus” package, presented by the European Commission on February 26, 2025, designed to simplify EU regulations and reduce bureaucratic burdens, especially for small and medium enterprises.

What’s changing?

CSDDD

• EU countries will have until 2027 (not 2026) to transpose the rules into their national legislation.

• Large companies (with over 5000 employees and €1.5 billion in turnover) will have to apply the directive from 2028 (not 2027). The same date applies to the second tier of companies (with over 3000 employees and €900 million in turnover).

CSRD

• Large companies (with over 250 employees and €40 million in turnover) that were supposed to start reporting in 2026 (second wave of CSRD) will do so from 2028.

• Listed SMEs, initially set for 2027, will have to apply the directive in 2029, reporting for 2028.

Naturally, companies already subject to CSRD from 2024 are not affected by the delay and must report within the prescribed deadlines.

🔗 Sources: NHABI