The European Financial Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) - ESMA, EBA and EIOPA - simultaneously published their opinions on the first European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) developed by the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) (see EUROPE 13088/11) on Thursday 26 January. All three gave a positive opinion and suggested improvements.
EIOPA considered that the draft ESRS met the objectives, in particular with the general approach on materiality assessment and the mandatory disclosure requirements. These requirements are “crucial for financial market participants to calculate and report their principle adverse impact indicators under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR)”.
Nevertheless, EIOPA believes that “more clarity is needed on the boundaries of the value chain for insurers and pension funds so that material sustainability impacts can be reported in a proportionate and risk-based manner”.
It also noted that further guidance may be needed to promote comparability with some SFDR-related indicators.
“The ESRS will also enable broader accountability of European businesses for their sustainability commitments and impacts vis-à-vis retail investors”, said Verena Ross, Chair of ESMA, in a statement.
ESMA advised the European Commission to address possible improvements in the level of consistency with the requirements of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and other EU legislation.
For the EBA, certain aspects deserved further consideration by the European Commission, in particular the timetable for the development of sectoral standards for credit institutions.
To read the EIOPA opinion: https://aeur.eu/f/53l
ESMA’s opinion: https://aeur.eu/f/53m
The EBA opinion: https://aeur.eu/f/53n (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)