Simplified EU corporate sustainability reporting laws approved

Apart from changing the scope and requirements of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), the Council has given member states additional time to incorporate the CSDDD’s changes into their national regulatory framework.

The first wave of companies will have to comply with the due diligence law in 2029, an official release said.

The next wave of CSRD companies will have until 2028 to comply, while this approval further delays CSDDD reporting until 2029.

Under the amendments, CSRD will apply to companies with over 1,000 employees and €450 million ($531 million) in revenue. Non-EU companies with a parent entity that has over €450 million in EU revenue and EU-based subsidiaries with over €200 million ($236 million) in revenue will also have to comply.

The scope of CSDDD has been changed to apply to EU companies with over 5,000 employees and €1.5 billion ($1.77 billion) in revenue. Non-EU entities with over €1.5 billion in EU revenue will also have to report under the CSDDD. The modified CSDDD also removes the requirement for companies to adopt and share a transition plan.

The adopted package reduces “unnecessary and disproportionate burdens on our businesses, with simpler, more targeted and more proportionate rules, both for companies and citizens,” Marilena Raouna, the deputy minister of European affairs for Cyprus—which holds the Council’s rotating presidency—said in the release.

The CSDDD changes also removed EU-level liability and capped penalties for violation at 3 per cent of a company’s global net revenue. “Businesses will be liable at a national level for failure to apply the rules correctly,” the release added.

The updated legislation will be published and come into force over the next month and, once in effect, EU member states will have a year to integrate the changes to the CSRD into their national laws, and will have until July 26, 2028, to integrate the CSDDD changes.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)