Commission seeks feedback on revised sustainability reporting standards

Commission seeks feedback on revised sustainability reporting standards

The Commission is launching a consultation on the draft revised European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) and a voluntary sustainability reporting standard for smaller companies.

ESRS cover environmental, social, and governance issues, including climate change, biodiversity and human rights. These standards provide information for investors and other stakeholders to understand the sustainability-related risks to which companies are exposed and their impacts on people and the environment.

Building on the Omnibus I simplification package and the streamlined scope of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the draft standards aim to cut administrative burden for EU businesses while maintaining high-quality sustainability disclosures. The draft revised ESRS are shorter and clearer, add new flexibilities, and streamline key processes. They are expected to cut per company reporting costs by more than 30%, reduce mandatory datapoints by over 60%, and cut total datapoints by over 70%.

The draft voluntary standard will support companies outside mandatory CSRD reporting and establishes a ’value chain cap’, preventing CSRD in-scope companies from requiring more information from value-chain partners with 1,000 employees or fewer than what the voluntary standard covers.

The consultation is open until 3 June 2026.

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