In an opinion adopted on Thursday 26 March, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) calls for preserving the robustness of the European regulatory framework for sustainable finance in the revision of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). While it supports the European Commission’s objective of simplification, the Committee stresses the need to maintain a high level of transparency, avoid the risks of greenwashing and continue to direct capital effectively towards the ecological and social transition.
“Simplification should help investors and markets work better, not dilute the EU’s sustainability goals”, said EESC rapporteur Javier Doz Orrit. He added: “The SFDR must continue to send a clear signal that Europe is firmly committed to steering capital towards sustainable and transition-aligned activities”.
The EESC supports the introduction of clearer product categories, including one dedicated to transition investments, while insisting on maintaining strict environmental and social standards and robust exclusions to ensure investor confidence. It also recommends preserving a core set of essential information at corporate level.
Finally, it calls for making investor engagement strategies with companies mandatory for transition products and for ensuring the SFDR is consistent with other European frameworks, in particular the ‘CSRD’ and the EU taxonomy.
See the EESC opinion: https://aeur.eu/f/ld9 (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)