On 1 January 2024, France became the first EU Member State to transpose the Sustainability Reporting Directive (SRD).

 

The main aim of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is to standardise companies' sustainability reporting, while improving the availability and quality of the ESG (environmental, social and governance) data published. The main aim of these changes is to meet the information needs of financial players, who are themselves subject to ESG reporting obligations.

The government has placed the H3C at the heart of this new system by entrusting it with the supervision of the professionals, statutory auditors and independent third-party bodies that will audit companies' sustainability information. The H3C will therefore be renamed the High Audit Authority (H2A). Its remit will be broadened, its organisation overhauled and its funding arrangements reviewed.

The expectations of this directive are high", comments H3C. In addition to the usual readers of audit reports, key players in civil society will be interested in sustainability and assurance reports.

Main provisions of the CSRD

The strengthening of reporting Corporate sustainability is a key element of the Green Pact for Europe, commented the AMF, which details the main provisions of the CSRD and their objectives:

The main objective of the CSRD is to harmonise the reporting sustainability performance and improve the availability and quality of ESG data published. These changes will make it possible, for example, to meet the information needs of financial players, who are themselves subject to reporting obligations. reporting ESG.

The CSRD amends four existing European texts: the Accounting Directive, the Transparency Directive, the Audit Directive and the Audit Regulation. The main changes introduced compared to the 2014 NFRD on the publication of non-financial information are:

• A broader scope of application: a significantly larger number of companies will be affected by the compulsory reportingThis includes all companies (except micro-enterprises) listed on European regulated markets (see next section "companies concerned).
• A strengthening and standardisation of the obligations of reporting Based on harmonised European standards, companies will have to publish detailed information on their risks, opportunities and material impacts in relation to social, environmental and governance issues, in accordance with the principle of "double materiality". These reporting will be adopted via delegated acts.
• A unique location: the reporting will be published in a dedicated section of the management report.
• A mandatory digital format: the annual report will be published in a single European electronic format, xHTML. Tags will be inserted in the reporting of sustainability and will be defined in a new digital taxonomy established by delegated act.
• Compulsory verification of the information by a statutory auditor or an independent third-party body (at the choice of the Member States), initially with a "moderate" level of assurance. A move to a "reasonable" level of assurance could be required from 2028. In addition, auditors will have to apply assurance standards and the rules governing their work will be strengthened by the Audit Directive and Regulation.