EU revises ESRS to cut sustainability reporting burden

The European Commission has adopted revised European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) and a voluntary sustainability reporting standard for smaller companies, a move intended to ease reporting obligations for European Union (EU) businesses while keeping sustainability disclosures available for investors and other stakeholders.The revised ESRS are shorter and clearer, introduce new flexibilities and streamline key processes, the European Commission said in a press release.

European Commission has adopted revised ESRS and a voluntary sustainability reporting standard for smaller companies.
Mandatory datapoints are cut by over 60 per cent, with total datapoints down over 70 per cent.
The rules matter for textile and apparel suppliers responding to buyer and financier ESG data requests.
Acts now go to Parliament and Council scrutiny before they apply.

It said mandatory datapoints are reduced by over 60 per cent and total datapoints by over 70 per cent, with reporting costs expected to fall by more than 30 per cent per company.

The revisions form part of the Omnibus I simplification package, which streamlines sustainability reporting in the EU and narrows the number of companies covered by the CSRD.

The commission said the changes reflect technical advice from EFRAG, previously known as the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group, informed by stakeholder input in spring 2025 and a public consultation on EFRAG drafts in summer 2025. It also sought views through a ‘Have Your Say’ call for feedback this spring.

The voluntary standard creates a single, proportionate reference framework for smaller companies outside the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) scope. It also sets a value chain cap: companies subject to CSRD cannot ask companies in their value chains for more sustainability information than the voluntary standard covers.

The delegated acts revising the ESRS and establishing the voluntary standard will be sent to the European Parliament and the Council of the EU for scrutiny. The measures will apply after a two-month scrutiny period, which may be extended by a further two months.

The ESRS cover environmental, social and governance issues including climate change, biodiversity and human rights. For textile and apparel exporters, manufacturers and sourcing teams linked to EU value chains, the changes are relevant where smaller companies outside the scope of CSRD need to answer sustainability information requests from large financial institutions and companies.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk