The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) reported that European Commission Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investments Union Maria Luís Albuquerque addressed EFRAG’s Sustainability Reporting Board and Sustainability Reporting Technical Expert Group to set out the Commission’s mandate to simplify the first set of European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The mandate calls for a fast-track process to simplify and improve the usability of ESRS for reporting companies. EFRAG indicated it will use evidence from the first wave of companies preparing sustainability statements for the 2024 financial year to develop changes that substantially reduce the number of mandatory data points and the practical application burden, while maintaining the robustness and effectiveness of sustainability reporting. The Chair of the Sustainability Reporting Board, Patrick de Cambourg, welcomed the mandate and reiterated EFRAG’s alignment with making ESRS more practical, effective, and proportionate while maintaining the ambition of the CSRD. EFRAG pointed to the Commission’s mandate letter as the source for further details.