Omnibus CSRD in the European Parliament
If Members of the European Parliament approve an accelerated procedure (pursuant to Article 170 of the Rules of Procedure) on their meeting on 1 April (see the below link), they could decide on postponing mandatory nonfinancial reporting for most companies for two years as early as on 3 April.
The nonfinancial reporting’s postponement for two years is part of legislative changes proposed by the European Commission in late February in so-called Omnibus package.
Additional proposals included in the Omnibus package, such as setting up value criteria to determine a duty or the introduction of the VSME standards, will continue to be extensively discussed.
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/OJQ-10-2025-04-01_CS.html
EFRAG: Video Series on the VSME Standards
This series of videos deals with the voluntary VSME standard for small and medium-sized enterprises (with Czech AI subtitles available).
Those videos provide small and medium-sized enterprises with a clear and real-life overview of the VSME standard, which constitutes a simplified framework for sustainability reporting adapted to their needs. It is composed of three parts:
Tagging of Sustainability Reports Using the ESRS XBRL Taxonomy
Tagging in the XBRL enables transforming ESRS statements into a structured digital format, thus making their automated processing, comparison and analysis easier.
This duty arises from the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and is directly linked to sustainability reporting requirements under the ESRS standards.
The EFRAG published two videos that provide a manual for digital tagging of ESRS reports using the ESRS Set 1 XBRL taxonomy.
This initiative’s purpose is to educate involved parties in how ESRS statements can be digitally tagged.
Binding tagging rules will only be issued on the basis of an approval by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Commission.
Links to the videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0MxVr9agkw
Chinese Sustainability Disclosure Standards (CSDS)
The Chinese Ministry of Finance published draft Chinese Sustainability Disclosure Standards (CSDS), which provide a sustainability reporting framework. These standards were developed on the basis of international frameworks, namely the ISSB and the CSRD/ESRS, the purpose being harmonisation of Chinese companies’ reports with global trends. The CSDS also put emphasis on interoperability with the existing standards.
The standards strengthen the double materiality principle, which means that disclosed information will take into account both financial impacts on companies and companies’ impact on the community and environment. The proposed timetable expects a specific standard for climate reporting and related instructions to be issued by 2027. By 2030, the whole set of standards and instructions will be finalised.
China will adopt gradual implementation, starting with publically traded companies, and will extend the reporting requirements, step by step, to non-traded companies, large enterprises, and SMEs, whilst the transition from the voluntary to mandatory framework will be carried out in additional phases.
Global Context:
In the meantime, progress is apparent in China and the country strives to enhance its sustainability disclosure rules.
What does it mean? If the EU curbs its standards’ ambition and the USA reduces their regulations, China could fill in the regulation gap. As regulation is closely connected to markets, China is likely to improve its position.
Even though China has not historically been a leader in the area of sustainable energy, it became the biggest global power in the clean energy field over the recent years, and this market has already been dominated by China that is extending its influence.
Václav Tittelbach
tittelbach@clarksonhyde.cz