“EFRAG will publish guidance on the implementation of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) and respond to questions received by stakeholders”, explained Chiara Del Prete, Chair of the Technical Expert Group on Sustainability Reporting within the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG), contacted by EUROPE on Tuesday 4 April. “The aim is to support the implementation of the draft standards issued in November 2022”, she continued.
The decision comes in response to a request from the European Commissioner for Financial Services, Mairead McGuinness, made during a speech at a PwC event on Tuesday 21 March. The Commissioner had asked EFRAG to prioritise its capacity building efforts for the implementation of the first set of ESRS, rather than the preparatory work for the draft sectoral standards.
“The consultation on sector standards will start later than was initially foreseen, to avoid overlapping consultations”, Ms Del Prete said.
EFRAG will also set up a documentation centre. It will include the draft ESRS, including any integrated texts of future amendments, as well as other documents useful for understanding and applying the ESRS. This may include relevant legal texts, exposure drafts, other documents superseded by delegated acts, documents identified in the draft ESRS as relevant sources for the content of the standards, training materials, etc.
EFRAG is currently working on the budget that will be allocated to this implementation support. It is also increasing its number of employees. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)