Legislative Train Schedule
European Parliament
Please fill in this field to search

Proposal for a Decision amending Directive 2013/34/EU as regards the time limits for the adoption of sustainability reporting standards for certain sectors and for certain third-country undertakings

In “An Economy that Works for People”

PDF version

The 2024 Commission work programme puts a strong focus on simplifying rules for citizens and businesses across the European Union. The proposal for a decision is part of package of proposal issued on 17 October 2023 with a view to rationalising reporting requirements.

The proposal would amend Directive 2013/34/EU of 26 June 2013 on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings. It would postpone two deadlines for delegated acts:

  1. The deadline for the Commission to adopt sector-specific European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) by way of delegated acts under Directive 2013/34/EU Article 29b(1) [Sustainability reporting standards], third subparagraph is set to 30 June 2026 instead of by 30 June 2024.
  2. The deadline for the Commission to adopt ESRS for non-EU companies meeting certain thresholds by way of delegated acts under Directive 2013/34/EU Article 40b (Sustainability reporting standards for third-country undertakings) is set by 30 June 2026 instead of by 30 June 2024.

On 13 December 2023, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) adopted an opinion endorsing the proposal without comments.

In Parliament, the Committee responsible is the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI); Rapporteur is Axel Voss (Germany, EPP). The report was adopted in Committee on 24 January 2024, with a decision to open interinstitutional negotiations. The decision to enter negotiations was announced in and confirmed by Plenary on 5 and 7 February 2024, respectively.

The main change stipulated by the Committee report is that postponing the adoption of the second set of standards under the CSRD by two years does not prevent the Commission from publishing the sector specific sustainability reporting standards before that date and the Commission should endeavour to adopt eight of the sector-specific sustainability reporting standards as soon as each is ready.

Council adopted its mandate on 12 January 2024. Limited changes that have been made to the Commission proposal. First, a new recital has been added explaining that Member States do not need to transpose this Directive, since the targeted amendments concern a specific element of an empowerment to adopt delegated acts granted to the Commission. Second, a new Article 3 has been added explaining that this Directive is addressed to Member States.

A provisional agreement was reached on 7 February 2024. It supports the objectives of the Commission’s proposal but modifies the legal nature of the text (from a Commission decision to a directive) to respect the legal basis of the proposal. It also suggests that the Commission publishes eight sector-specific reporting standards as soon as they are ready before the new deadline on 30 June 2026. Member states will not need to transpose this directive, since the targeted amendments concern the empowerment to adopt delegated acts granted to the Commission.

The provisional agreement was adopted in Parliament in April I session. The final act was signed on 29 April 2024 and published in the Official Journal on 8 May.

References:

Author: Issam Hallak, Members' Research Service, legislative-train@europarl.europa.eu

As of 15/12/2024.