What happened
The European Commission has published the revised European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) in the EU Official Journal, alongside a voluntary sustainability-reporting standard for smaller businesses.
The regulation will enter into force on 10 November 2026. It will apply for financial years that begin from 1 January 2027.
Its publication follows the Commission’s adoption of the texts in July 2026 and the end of scrutiny by the European Parliament and Council. The revision forms part of the Commission’s Omnibus I programme, launched in early 2025 to reduce sustainability-reporting requirements.
Why it matters
Businesses still covered by the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) will need to prepare for the revised ESRS from the 2027 financial year. Companies outside the CSRD threshold will also be affected because larger businesses’ sustainability-information requests are limited to information in a planned voluntary standard based on the Voluntary Standard for SMEs.
EU lawmakers approved changes that reduced CSRD coverage by 90%. The revised threshold excludes companies with fewer than €450 million in revenue and 1,000 employees, replacing the previous 250-employee threshold.
Background
The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG), which developed the original standards, submitted its final technical revision in December 2025. Its proposal would remove 61% of mandatory datapoints and all voluntary disclosures, cutting the total number of datapoints by more than 70%.
The Commission issued draft standards in May 2026 with limited changes before adopting the final texts in July.
What's next
Companies that remain in CSRD scope should assess the revised requirements before the regulation takes effect on 10 November 2026. The new reporting framework applies to financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2027.
