Members of the European Parliament will vote on November 10 to confirm the agreement reached earlier this summer to strengthen companies’ obligations to disclose information on their sustainability risks and impacts, and adopt mandatory EU standards covering Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) matters.

Governments in the 27 Member States now have the responsibility to ensure their national legislation incorporates the changes and prepare companies to start reporting according to the new rules and standards.

The EU Commission, on its part, is responsible for adopting the first set of technical standards by June 2023 clarifying disclosure requirements for companies in all sectors, as well as more detailed standards tailored to specific industries in the next two years. Over 30 civil society organisations and trade unions recently raised strong concerns about business and political lobbies working to lower ambition and slow the pace for the adoption of these EU standards...

What are the next steps to ensure the success of this reform?

1. Harmonised and prompt CSRD implementation across the EU [...]

• It is imperative that Member States provide clarity to companies by making the necessary changes before January 2024 (in the next 12 months) and ensure all large companies (listed and non-listed) gather information during the financial year 2024 in order to report in 2025...

2. Adoption of comprehensive EU standards in line with the legal mandate

• Civil society organisations and trade unions have urged the European Commission to uphold the legal mandate agreed in the CSRD and not give in to political pressure and narrow business interests that aim to hinder EU progress in the finalisation of much-awaited EU standards.

3. The EU must engage with international developments without lowering EU’s sustainability ambitions...