EFRAG enhances its sustainability reporting pillar
Kerstin Lopatta was appointed Vice-Chair of the Sustainability Reporting Board (SRB). The European Investment Bank joined as an official observer in EFRAG’s both pillars as discussions continued in December 2022.
EFRAG is also enhancing its sustainability reporting standards technical capabilities with:
ECON and ITRE Committees vote on reports for opinion on CSDDD
The ‘s (EP) Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) and Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committees adopted their opinions on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). ECON’s vote was significant since it covered the inclusion of the financial sector. This matter seems to be one of the most controversial topics in the negotiations, for which the right- and left-wing political groups shared an opposing view.
Legal Affairs Committee tables over 1700 amendments on CSDDD
The EP’s Legal Affairs (JURI) Committee tabled their amendments (AMs) to MEP Lara Wolters’ (S&D/Netherlands) draft report on the CSDDD. MEPs had divergent views on several aspects, to name a few:
- scope: several MEPs would like to see fewer companies under the CSDDD, proposing 3000 employees as a threshold, while many others suggest a lower threshold to capture even more companies
- directors’ duties and responsibilities: while some MEPs are in favour of Directors having a more active role in setting up and overseeing the implementation of due diligence rules, others suggested deleting Articles 25 and 26 provisions all together
- financial sector: certain MEPs proposed AMs to exclude the financial sector from the CSDDD scope due to its specificities, while many others advocated for the sector’s inclusion
- third-party verification: several MEPs supported the opening of the market to all verification providers, and some others further suggested adopting a delegated act setting minimum standards for verification
JURI Committee is expected to vote on the CSDDD in March.
Final EU negotiations on EU green bond proposal to continue in 2023
The EP and Council met for the fourth time to negotiate the EU green bond standard proposal on 14 December 2022. They did not reach a provisional political agreement due to divergent views on transparency requirements and flexibility pocket, among other matters, as mentioned by rapporteur MEP Paul Tang (S&D/Netherlands). The negotiations are expected to continue under the Swedish Presidency.
EC FAQs on EU Taxonomy
The European Commission (EC) issued two sets of FAQs to help companies:
EBA publishes its roadmap on sustainable finance
The European Banking Authority (EBA) outlined its objectives and timeline to deliver on sustainable finance. The roadmap covers eight areas:
- transparency and disclosures
- risk management and supervision
- prudential treatment of exposures
- stress-testing
- standards and labels
- greenwashing
- supervisory reporting
- environmental, social and governance risks and sustainable finance monitoring
SMSG provides advice on greenwashing
ESMA’s Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group (SMSG) submitted its advice to ESMA on the European Supervisory Authorities’ (ESAs) Call for Evidence on greenwashing. SMSG advises, among other things, to clarify concepts and terminology and identify gaps in the current regulatory framework to fight greenwashing in the financial sector.
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