The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has released revised and significantly simplified Exposure Drafts of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), marking a pivotal step in the evolution of the EU’s corporate sustainability disclosure regime.
This update comes in response to the European Commission’s March 2025 request under the Omnibus initiative, aimed at streamlining reporting obligations under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) while maintaining alignment with the European Green Deal.
EFRAG’s revised drafts are the product of an intensive consultation process, including over 800 survey responses and wide-ranging stakeholder engagement. The changes reflect a dual approach—top-down simplification and bottom-up review—that has resulted in sweeping cuts to the reporting workload. The number of mandatory datapoints (where relevant) has been reduced by 57%, while the total number of disclosures, including both mandatory and voluntary, has been slashed by 68%. Furthermore, the overall length of the ESRS has been shortened by more than 55%, significantly improving accessibility and practicality, especially for companies newly brought into the CSRD’s scope.
Key improvements include a streamlined double materiality assessment, clearer language, reduced redundancies across standards, and the removal of all voluntary disclosures. EFRAG has also introduced new relief mechanisms, such as exemptions from disclosures that would impose undue cost or effort, further reducing the burden on companies.
The revised Exposure Drafts are now open for public consultation until 29 September 2025. EFRAG is encouraging responses from across the reporting ecosystem, including preparers, auditors, investors, civil society groups, and national authorities. To promote open dialogue, EFRAG will also be holding a series of outreach events during September and October. Final technical advice will be submitted to the European Commission by 30 November 2025.
In parallel, a cost-benefit analysis and targeted field tests are being conducted, with stakeholders invited to participate.
EFRAG Sustainability Reporting Board chair Patrick de Cambourg said, “EFRAG is fully aligned with the strategic vision set out by the European Commission. These revisions aim to deliver what Europe needs at this moment: a more focused, more usable sustainability reporting system that remains ambitious but does not overburden companies. Capitalising on effective experience, this is about making ESRS a more workable reality—so that sustainability reporting supports, rather than hinders, resilience, investment, and long-term value creation.”
EFRAG Sustainability Reporting Technical Expert Group chair Chiara Del Prete said, “The Exposure Drafts that we put in consultation today are the result of an intense period of input gathering and internal discussions. Thanks to the extensive dialogue we have had over the past few months with all the interested stakeholders, we could base the simplification of the ESRS on the lessons learnt in their application. We focused our effort in the short timeframe available on the most pressing issues. We now look forward to continuing this dialogue and receiving the comments of our stakeholders on what we propose.”
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