The European Commission today released draft final revised European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) for public feedback, with comments due by June 3, 2026.
The revised standards are intended to simplify the ESRS framework developed under the CSRD, building on the Commission’s Omnibus I simplification initiative. According to the Commission, the revisions reduce mandatory datapoints by over 60% and total datapoints by over 70%, with the Commission indicating that reporting cost reductions per company could exceed 30%.
The draft standards largely build on EFRAG’s technical advice, with targeted modifications by the Commission to further ease reporting burdens while maintaining the CSRD’s policy objectives. Ropes & Gray outlines the principal proposed changes here.
In parallel, the Commission published draft voluntary sustainability reporting standards for SMEs. These standards are intended, among other things, to limit the information that in-scope companies may request from certain value chain partners (including those with fewer than 1,000 employees).
Next Steps
Following the consultation, the Commission is expected to adopt the revised ESRS through delegated acts. These will then be subject to scrutiny by the European Parliament and Council before entering into force.
The Society, which has engaged on the Omnibus I and ESRS since early 2025, continues to monitor developments and evaluate potential engagement in the consultation process, building on its prior submissions and ongoing work regarding ESRS simplification and interoperability. We will provide additional observations in a forthcoming Alert.