The Council of the EU is considering the possibility of a 1-year postponement of the requirement for European companies listed on a regulated market to publish their annual financial reports in the European Single Electronic Format (ESEF), according to a (‘non-paper’) document from the European Commission addressed to the EU Council’s Working Party on Financial Services.
The document, dated 5 October, a copy of which has been obtained by EUROPE, explains that this idea arose during the EU Council working party’s discussion of the Commission’s July proposals for targeted amendments to EU financial regulations to support the post-Covid-19 economic recovery (see EUROPE 12535/11).
Some Member States have indeed proposed including in the package an amendment to the Transparency Directive (2004/109/EC), which would give Member States the option of allowing companies to apply this requirement beginning with the financial year 2021, instead of the financial year 2020 as planned.
The Member States have asked the Commission services to provide them with an analysis of the implications of such a change. In its paper, the Commission replies that the introduction of a carry-over option would not imply any transposition requirements for Member States. “From the point of view of Union law, no specific action by Member States would be required, other than notifying the Commission of their intention to allow a postponement”, it explains.
In the event that a Member State has transposed the directive with measures that explicitly require the application of the ESEF from the financial year 2020, and decides to allow a 1-year postponement, clarification may nevertheless be needed at national level, it says.
The Commission services also consider that there would be no need to amend the existing provisions of the ESEF Regulation to reflect this amendment to the Transparency Directive. In the Commission’s view, if a Member State decided to grant a 1-year postponement, this should not be considered a violation of EU law. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)