The European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) has adopted its position on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) with 22 votes in favour, one against and no abstentions.
The text revises existing corporate sustainability reporting requirements in line with the EU Sustainable Finance Strategy and the objectives of the ‘European Green Deal’.
The political agreement in the EU Council on 24 February (see EUROPE 12898/1) provided for the extension of the different application periods according to the size of the companies and the transposition period as well as the language used in the consolidated reports for companies with foreign subsidiaries.
MEPs felt that small and medium-sized enterprises should be able to adhere to the reporting standards on a voluntary basis and urged Member States to support them, through certified labels or financial support. The question of proportionality had indeed worried the MEPs of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, in its opinion voted on 28 February 2022 (see EUROPE 12903/35).
The JURI Committee also asked the European Commission to establish additional reporting criteria for companies with relevant economic activities in high-risk sectors (textiles, agriculture, mining, minerals).
It also extended the scope to third country companies operating in the EU internal market.
Pascal Durand (Renew Europe, France), the rapporteur of the text, said: “We want to develop our own European standards and rules so that those of others are not imposed on us, those of the United States tomorrow, or even China the day after tomorrow, and without waiting for the OECD to reach an agreement. Those rules will establish the so-called sustainability performance of business, to form, together with the financial performance, a more comprehensive approach to their performance”.
If there are no objections in the Brussels plenary on Wednesday 23 March, the text will then be negotiated with the other EU institutions. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)