MOVING FROM NON-FINANCIAL TO SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING: ANALYZING THE EU COMMISSION’S PROPOSAL FOR A CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING DIRECTIVE (CSRD)

Abstract

Non-financial reporting as established through the NFRD (2014/95/EU) has become a core element of the EU Commission’s ambitions to transform the European economy towards more sustainability. To address the increased criticism which meets the current reporting requirements, the EU Commission initiated the development of a new set of European Sustainability Reporting Standards, followed by issuing the proposal for a new directive to supersede the NFRD. This paper analyzed these proposals in the light of previous findings from academia and corporate practice, contributing to an ex-ante impact assessment. As a result, it shows that improving completeness, comparability and reliability are the two main goals of the EU Commission. However, many of the new proposed requirements are excessive and raise fundamental questions concerning acceptable levels of administrative burden for companies as well as necessary conceptual fundaments for a reporting framework.