Many listed European retailers have yet to complete the first stage of CSRD, i.e. the double materiality analysis. What is the view of the retail sector?
Ghislain Boyer : CSRD is an equal process for all European companies, with 4 successive deployments. Companies with more than 500 staff all started at the same time, before the summer of 2023, ready to publish their first extra-financial report on January 1, 2025, for fiscal years ending to December 31. These reports have to measure data for the financial year that began on January 1, 2024. The CSRD report will be published at the same time as financial reports, so that financial and non-financial data can be released at the same time. The first year of 2025, promises to be a poker game, with everyone playing their cards at the same time. This process should be standardised by 2026. The rules stipulate that auditors will have 3 years to increase their assurance levels. After 2 years of testing, the 3rd year will be no joke as reports must have optimum reliability.
