Around 50,000 EU businesses will be required to provide corporate sustainability information and gradually increase transparency regarding their effects on the environment and society.
Large companies
The legislative proposal suggests that regardless of whether they are listed on an EU-regulated market, all significant corporations in Europe should submit reports per the CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) standards. According to the Accounting Directive, businesses that satisfy two out of the following three requirements are considered big companies and must abide by the CSRD:
- €40 million in net turnover
- €20 million in assets
- 250 or more employees
SMEs and suppliers
In addition, not only large companies but listed small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will also be required to report under CSRD. However, they must start declaring information based on simpler and targeted requirements and start the reporting process later. CSRD does not apply to non-listed SMEs.
Companies that fall into the company categories explained above are within the scope of the CSRD and will have to disclose their sustainability report to the ESAP (European single access point) platform. However, those companies will likely request information from their suppliers, particularly their tier 1 suppliers. And those suppliers might need to request information from their suppliers down the supply chain.
Non-EU enterprises with significant activity in the EU
The implication of CSRD extends beyond the EU borders. Non-EU companies with significant activity in the EU (net turnover of at least EUR 150 million) will have to report on their ESG impacts as defined in the directive. This again will affect a large number of firms.
Start developing your data-collecting process and ESG strategy!
As you can see, a huge number of business across Europe and beyond will be affected by the CSRD regulation. If your company is one of them, we suggest you develop a robust data-collecting process and future-proof ESG strategy as soon as possible.
Author: Mária Farkas – Senior Sustainability & CSRD Expert at denxpert
Source: https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/PE-35-2022-INIT/en/pdf
