On Monday 26 June, the European Commission published non-binding guidelines on how to publish non-financial information.
Directive 2014/95 requires 6,000 companies established in the European Union with more than 500 employees and with activities of public interest (banks, insurance companies, listed companies) to declare non-financial information on an annual basis such as information related to their environmental, social and employee policies, compliance with human rights and fighting corruption. Companies not following this requirement must provide justification (see EUROPE 11165).
These guidelines aim to make the available information coherent and easily comparable without over-burdening businesses that are subject to these new requirements. In particular, they recommend that companies involved in the supply chain of minerals from geographical areas in conflict provide information about the controls they carry out to ensure that human rights are being respected. Another recommends they provide information about internal measures taken to guarantee the health and safety of workers and subcontractors.
These guidelines are based on best practice established at international level in the framework of UN sustainable development goals and the Paris Climate Agreement.
The Commission stresses that the question of the transparency of non-financial information is a subject of the discussions underway at the working group on 'sustainable' finance, which will submit recommendations by the end of this year.
For more information, see http://bit.ly/2tdLETT . (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)