On 21 April 2021, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a Directive on Corporate Sustainability Reporting (CSRD), which amends the existing reporting requirements of the current Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD) and will replace it.
The aim of the Directive is to improve sustainability reporting at least cost, in order to better exploit the potential of the European single market to contribute to the transition to a fully sustainable and inclusive economic and financial system, in line with the European Green Deal and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Compared to the sustainability reporting requirements of the NFRD, the main novelties of this proposal are the following
- Extension of the scope of the non-financial reporting requirements to other companies, including all large companies and listed companies (except for listed micro-enterprises);
- requirement for certification of sustainability information
- more detailed information to be provided by companies, in line with mandatory European sustainability reporting standards
- publication of all information as part of companies’ management reports, and dissemination in machine-readable digital format.
The Directive builds on and aims to contribute to international initiatives on sustainability reporting. EU sustainability reporting standards are aligned as far as possible with these initiatives while taking into account European specificities. The Directive amends four existing pieces of legislation: the Accounting Directive, the Audit Directive, the Audit Regulation and the Transparency Directive.