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The CSRD requires assured sustainability reporting. After Omnibus I the scope is two-stage: through financial year 2026 as before, and from 2027 only above 1,000 employees and EUR 450m turnover.
An EU directive on mandatory, externally assured sustainability reporting. It replaces the earlier NFRD and is part of the European Green Deal.
Public-interest entities with more than 500 employees keep reporting as before.
Only companies with more than 1,000 employees and more than EUR 450m net turnover — both criteria at once. Listed SMEs are no longer obliged.
Reporting under the ESRS inside the management report, externally assured at the limited level. The digital tagging duty is currently suspended.
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive is the EU directive that standardises sustainability reporting and makes it subject to assurance. It replaces the NFRD. Reporting follows the European Sustainability Reporting Standards, sits in the management report, and an auditor confirms the result.
Scope is two-stage. Which rule applies to you depends on the financial year — the most common misunderstanding on this topic, because many articles still carry the old figures.
The timetable changed twice. First, Directive (EU) 2025/794 ("stop the clock") delayed the second and third reporting waves by two years. Then Omnibus I ((EU) 2026/470, in force since Mar 18, 2026) cut the scope permanently. Together, roughly 90% of originally covered companies drop out. Member States transpose the changes into national law by Mar 19, 2027.
Reporting follows the ESRS across environmental, social and governance topics. The starting point is the double materiality assessment: you assess both your impacts on people and the environment and your financial risks and opportunities. The version that counts is the revised ESRS set in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1563 for financial years from 2027. Immaterial datapoints must not be disclosed — that is new, and it keeps reports leaner.
The report is externally assured, at the limited assurance level. The originally planned move to reasonable assurance was dropped by Omnibus I. The Commission only assesses whether such standards make sense — that is not a commitment. Anyone reading that full assurance is "coming eventually" is reading an outdated position.
The CSRD envisaged marking up sustainability information so it is machine-readable. Omnibus I amended Article 29d: the mark-up duty rests until the ESEF regulation (EU) 2019/815 is updated. There is currently no application date. The scope also matters: the duty never applied only to listed companies, but to every reporting company.
A structured preparation starts early and works from data rather than from spreadsheets that grew over time.
That depends on the financial year. Through financial year 2026, public-interest entities with more than 500 employees report. From financial year 2027, only companies with more than 1,000 employees and more than EUR 450m turnover are covered, and both criteria must be met at once.
Not for CSRD scope. Balance sheet, turnover and headcount in the two-of-three logic still define what a "large undertaking" is under the Accounting Directive. The CSRD threshold from financial year 2027 is independent of that and requires both criteria at the same time.
The CSRD is the directive and governs the "whether" and "who". The ESRS are the standards and govern the "what" and "how".
No. Listed SMEs were originally planned as the third wave but fell out of scope entirely with Omnibus I. Smaller companies can report voluntarily under the Voluntary Standard (Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1560). Its advantage is a binding cap: a CSRD-reporting customer may request only that standard's datapoints from companies with up to 1,000 employees.
Yes, externally and at the limited assurance level. The planned move to reasonable assurance was dropped. The Commission only assesses whether it will adopt such standards.
Not at present. Omnibus I suspended the mark-up duty in Article 29d until the ESEF regulation (EU) 2019/815 is updated, and no application date exists. EFRAG put a draft taxonomy out for consultation in September 2026. Building machine-readable data structures is sensible, but there is no deadline for it.
In the company's management report, as a dedicated sustainability statement. The Taxonomy disclosures under Article 8 of the Taxonomy Regulation belong in the same statement but are not subject to the ESRS.
The obligation ends, the data requests do not. Large customers, banks and investors ask for ESG data regardless of who is legally obliged, and you need a GHG inventory anyway for CBAM or product footprints. The difference is that you can answer voluntarily and in a structured way instead of under pressure.
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