Brussels clarifies EU corporate sustainability reporting rules

(BRUSSELS) - The EU Commission published a set of frequently asked questions Wednesday designed to support stakeholders in implementing the EU's corporate sustainability reporting rules.

The publication is part of ongoing efforts to make the EU sustainable finance framework more usable for companies and reduce the administrative burden on them.

The Commission says the FAQs take into account input received from companies and cover issues such as the scope of the rules, application dates, and exemptions.

Thery clarify, for example, when companies are abvle to use estimates rather than having to collect value chain information from suppliers or partners.

"The EU has taken major steps in building a comprehensive sustainable finance framework over the past six years, encouraging companies to embark on their transition paths,"the Commissioner for Financial Services Mairead McGuinness said: "Our focus now is to ensure that our tools are usable and effective, while continuing to reduce the administrative burden on companies. The FAQs provide important clarifications and will further reduce the need for companies to seek external legal or consultancy advice for applying the rules. Companies are working hard to be more sustainable, which helps strengthen their competitiveness in the medium term, and I aim to ensure that our framework assists them in that process."

The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive is seen as a cornerstone of the EU's sustainability agenda and the European Green Deal. It modernises and strengthens the rules about the social and environmental information that companies have to report.

The Directive entered into force on 5 January 2023. The first set of companies subject to the new rules must start reporting in 2025, for the financial year 2024.

Further information on the EU corporate sustainability reporting framework