The European Securities and Markets Authority has launched a consultation on draft technical advice to the European Commission on selected key performance indicators under the Taxonomy Disclosures Delegated Act, with a focus on simplifying the framework and reducing reporting burdens for market participants while preserving decision-useful information. ESMA’s proposals mainly address non-financial undertakings and asset managers, with the review centered on the operational expenditure KPI, group-level reporting for mixed groups and other targeted reporting simplifications. On the OpEx KPI, ESMA’s preliminary preference is to recast the mandatory metric around research and development expenditure and allow an optional additional OpEx plus disclosure for other material spending such as green procurement and possibly green energy. It also questions whether counterparties’ OpEx should be incorporated into financial undertakings’ own Taxonomy KPIs, noting that this could add complexity and only limited information value, although it seeks feedback on optional use by asset managers alongside CapEx. On group reporting, ESMA and the other European Supervisory Authorities propose moving away from a weighted average group KPI and instead using the parent undertaking’s main reporting regime, supplemented by additional KPIs for material subsidiaries or intermediate parents where needed to avoid information gaps. Other proposed simplifications include selected reliefs aligned with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards, phased-in application of new Taxonomy requirements, clarification of the interaction with IFRS 8 and materiality, a possible option to make CapEx type C voluntary, deletion of the adjusted Turnover KPI for sustainable bond issuance, a general materiality filter for contextual disclosures and targeted changes to asset manager templates. The consultation runs until 12 August 2026 and ESMA will hold a public hearing on 22 July 2026. Final technical advice is due to be delivered to the European Commission by the end of October 2026.
European Securities and Markets Authority2026-07-01
European Securities and Markets Authority launches consultation on simplifying Taxonomy disclosures and revising the OpEx KPI
The European Securities and Markets Authority has opened a consultation on draft advice to simplify Taxonomy disclosures, with the main proposals focused on redesigning the OpEx KPI, revising group reporting and easing selected reporting requirements for non-financial undertakings and asset managers. ESMA preliminarily favors a narrower mandatory OpEx KPI based on research and development expenditure and a move away from weighted average group KPIs. The consultation closes on 12 August 2026 and final advice is due by end-October 2026.