On Tuesday 3 October, European and international experts discussed sustainability auditing at a conference organised by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (Accountancy Europe).
This sustainability audit stems from the development of the ‘European Sustainability Reporting Standards’ (‘ESRS’), which many companies will be required to produce from 1 January 2026 (see EUROPE 13243/22). As with financial reporting, non-financial reporting will be subject to verification by approved auditors.
This verification will also be subject to standards. The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) is currently examining this issue. According to Tom Seidenstein, Chairman of the IAASB, these future standards should enable “worldwide comparability” and give professionals the ability to “produce high-quality certification”.
The IAASB works with a wide range of stakeholders, institutions and bodies, including the European Commission and the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG).
Rogier Wezenbeek, an expert from the Commission’s Directorate-General for Financial Services (DG FISMA), explained that the Commission was waiting for the IAASB standards before it could adopt and adapt them at European level.
The CSRD directive provides for the Commission to propose standards for limited assurance before October 2026, and standards for reasonable assurance before October 2028, in the form of delegated acts.
European rules will have to take account of the notion of ‘dual materiality’ required by the directive. According to Patrick Parent, Chairman of the Committee of European Auditing Oversight Bodies (CEAOB), the examination of narrative information will be at the heart of certification. “It has an importance that is much bigger than it has with financial reporting”, he stressed. He therefore hoped that future IAASB standards would provide clarification, in order to define the work of professionals more precisely. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)