On July 31, the European Commission published the delegated act related to the CSRD. It details the list of sustainability reporting standards (ESRS) on environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria to be published by companies with over 250 employees and turnover above €40 million. This long-awaited document, which has been the subject of bitter discussions under pressure from NGOs on the one hand and employers’ organisations on the other, is the result of a directive adopted in January. This will enable the application of the “double materiality” principle, which will require analysis of the environmental and social impact of a company’s activities on society and, conversely, of the impact of the social and environmental context on the company. The new standard replaces the NFRD, the previous non-financial reporting directive adopted in 2014, which was deemed to be ineffective due to the absence of clear standards set at EU level, and which only applied to 11,000 companies.
The CSRD, a regulatory mechanism yet to be finalised
The text will come into force on January 1, 2024, once the Parliament and Council have also adopted the delegated act. However, the CSRD requires certain provisions to be transposed into national law by the end of the year: in France, an ordinance is expected to specify the obligations for acting as an independent third party for a company.
