As requested by the European Commission with the ‘Omnibus I’ legislative simplification package, the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) published the draft revised and simplified European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) on Thursday 31 July (see EUROPE 13588/4). It has launched a 60-day public consultation to gather comments from stakeholders.
EFRAG says it has streamlined the double materiality assessment, reduced overlaps across standards, clarified language and structure, and removed all voluntary datapoints. New relief mechanisms have also been introduced, such as exemptions where declaration would entail excessive cost or effort.
In total, the mandatory data to be declared has been reduced by 57% and all the information to be published, both mandatory and voluntary, has been reduced by 68%. The overall length of the standards has been shortened by over 55%, making the ESRS more accessible and easier to implement.
“Thanks to the extensive dialogue we have had over the past few months with all the interested stakeholders, we could base the simplification of the ESRS on the lessons learnt in their application”, commented Chiara Del Prete, Chair of the Sustainability Reporting Technical Expert Group.
The public consultation, open until Monday 29 September, is aimed at stakeholders, in particular accountants, auditors and investors. EFRAG will also organise outreach events, in September and October, to gather further feedback before delivering its final technical advice to the Commission, due by Sunday 30 November.
Further information: https://aeur.eu/f/i2r (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)