Voluntary sustainability reporting standard to ease burden on SMEs

The Commission has adopted last July 30 a recommendation on voluntary sustainability reporting for small and medium-sized companies (SMEs). The recommendation presents a voluntary standard that will make it easier for SMEs that are not covered by the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) to respond to specific requests for sustainability information from large financial institutions and companies.

The voluntary standard for SMEs (VSME) was developed by EFRAG, the Commission’s technical advisory body for sustainability reporting. The Commission encourages large companies and financial institutions that seek sustainability information from SMEs to base their requests on the voluntary standard as far as possible. SMEs may also wish to voluntarily report sustainability information to improve their access to sustainable finance and better understand and monitor their own sustainability performance, thereby improving their resilience and competitiveness.

Background

On 26 February 2025, the Commission adopted the Omnibus I simplification package which proposed to limit mandatory sustainability reporting under the CSRD to large companies with more than 1,000 employees. For companies with up to 1,000 employees, the Commission proposed a voluntary reporting standard which will be adopted by the Commission, based on the recommendation adopted today. This future voluntary reporting standard will also act as a “value-chain cap” to protect SMEs and other companies not subject to mandatory reporting under the CSRD from excessive information requests from their value chain partners.

Next steps

Last July 30’s recommendation is therefore an intermediary solution to address market demands until the delegated act on a voluntary standard is formally adopted. The content of the delegated act could vary compared to today’s recommendation. The timing of adoption will depend on the pace and conclusion of negotiations between the co-legislators on the Omnibus I proposal.

More information: European Commission