The European Commission has launched a one month public feedback process on draft final revised European Sustainability Reporting Standards and on a draft voluntary sustainability reporting standard for smaller companies. The proposals form part of the Omnibus I simplification package linked to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and are designed to reduce reporting burdens while preserve the quality of sustainability disclosures. Under the draft revised ESRS, mandatory datapoints would fall by more than 60% and total datapoints by more than 70%. The standards would also be shorter and clearer, introduce new flexibilities, and simplify the materiality assessment used to determine what must be reported, with reporting costs per company expected to fall by more than 30%. The Commission said the draft largely builds on technical advice from the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group, with targeted adjustments to further ease the reporting burden. The draft voluntary standard, based on EFRAG's 2024 voluntary SME standard endorsed by the Commission in 2025, would apply to companies outside mandatory CSRD reporting and includes a value chain cap under which CSRD in scope companies could not require value chain partners with 1000 employees or fewer to provide information beyond that standard. Feedback is open until 3 June. The Commission plans to adopt the two delegated acts as soon as possible after the consultation closes, after which they will be sent to the European Parliament and the Council for scrutiny under the no objection procedure for two months, extendable by a further two months at the request of either institution, before entering into force.
European Commission 2026-05-06
European Commission launches feedback on revised ESRS and voluntary sustainability reporting standard for smaller companies with value chain cap
The European Commission has launched a public feedback process on draft final revised European Sustainability Reporting Standards and a draft voluntary sustainability reporting standard for smaller companies, under the Omnibus I simplification package of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. The revised standards would cut mandatory datapoints by over 60% and total datapoints by over 70%, simplify materiality assessments, and are expected to reduce reporting costs per company by more than 30%, while the voluntary standard would apply to companies outside mandatory CSRD scope and cap information that in-scope companies can require from value chain partners with 1,000 employees or fewer.