"EFRAG Releases Proposed Simplified European Sustainability Reporting Standards" 1 August 2025

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) announced the publication of its revised Exposure Drafts of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), significantly simplifying and scaling back reporting requirements for companies under the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

Among the key changes from the initial ESRS, the new standards remove all voluntary disclosures, and reduce reporting datapoints by 68%, going even beyond EFRAG’s recent estimate of a 66% reduction.

The initiative to update ESRS forms part of the European Commission’s Omnibus I proposal aimed at significantly reducing the sustainability reporting and regulatory burden on companies, targeting regulations including the CSRD, as well as the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), the Taxonomy Regulation, and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)...

According to EFRAG, the new standards have been shortened in length by more than 55% compared to the initial ESRS, with mandatory datapoints reduced by 57%, and total datapoints, including the elimination of voluntary disclosures, by 68%.

Alongside the release of the exposure drafts, EFRAG launched a 60-day consultation to gather feedback on the proposed update to the ESRS, which will remain open through September 29, 2025. The Commission recently extended its deadline for EFRAG’s technical advice on the ESRS, with the finalized standard now due to be delivered by the end of November 2025.