A Commission Delegated Regulation published by the Council on 9 July 2026 establishes voluntary sustainability reporting standards for undertakings that do not exceed an average of 1,000 employees and are protected by the value chain cap. The standards aim to help smaller firms meet data requests from larger reporting entities under Directive 2013/34/EU.
a Basic Module (disclosures B1-B11) and a Comprehensive Module (additional datapoints C1-C9). Applying the Basic Module is a prerequisite for the Comprehensive Module. Some datapoints are voluntary for undertakings with 10 employees or fewer, identified by square brackets. Undertakings must report information that is relevant, faithful, comparable, understandable, and verifiable. From the second year of reporting, comparative information for the previous year must be included. The sustainability report shall be prepared annually if required by large undertakings or banks. Undertakings may omit certain information under specific conditions, including trade secrets and seriously prejudicial commercial information. EFRAG's website and Knowledge Hub provide practical guidance and templates.
Stakeholder impact Small and medium-sized undertakings (up to 1,000 employees) benefit from a proportionate, voluntary framework that reduces the burden of ad hoc value chain requests, but may face initial compliance costs for implementing the Basic Module. Larger reporting entities in the value chain gain more standardized and comparable data from their suppliers, improving their own reporting quality. National authorities overseeing sustainability reporting will need to monitor adoption and ensure consistency with mandatory standards. EFRAG, as the standard-setter, will see increased demand for guidance and templates.
Institutional follow-up The regulation will enter into force after publication in the Official Journal. Undertakings may choose to apply the standards from the first financial year starting after adoption. The Commission and EFRAG are expected to monitor uptake and may propose adjustments based on practical experience.