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Consultant, Head of Sustainability Services, Sustainability Auditor IDW
Revised ESRS Published: An Overview of the Key Changes
- On July 3, 2026, the European Commission published the revised ESRS.
- The new standards apply from January 1, 2027, with an option for early application.
- The scope of reporting will be significantly reduced compared with the previous ESRS.
- Companies should now review ongoing CSRD projects.
On July 3, 2026, the European Commission adopted the revised European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) as a delegated act. The target of the revision was to simplify and streamline the standards as part of the Omnibus I initiative. The new ESRS significantly reduce the scope of reporting and will apply mandatorily from January 1, 2027, for companies within the CSRD’s business conduct. We have summarised the key changes and the next steps for you.
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With the publication of the delegated act on July 3, 2026, the European Commission has provisionally completed the revision of the ESRS. According to the Commission, mandatory data points will be reduced by more than 60%, while the total number of data points will decrease by more than 70%.
In parallel with the ESRS, the new Voluntary Standard (VS) was also published as a voluntary sustainability reporting standard for companies outside the scope of the CSRD.
What Are the Key Changes?
The final version confirms the material simplifications that were already set out in the Draft Simplified ESRS published by EFRAG.
The key changes include:
- significant reduction in the data points to be reported,
- stronger focus on material impacts, risks and opportunities,
- additional proportionality and transitional provisions,
- improved structure and readability of the standards,
- greater orientation towards understandable and decision-useful reporting,
- better interoperability with international frameworks such as ISSB and GRI.
The target of the revision is to place a stronger focus on decision-useful information while at the same time reducing the effort required to prepare the sustainability statement.
What Does This Mean for Companies?
For companies that continue to fall under the CSRD, there is now an opportunity to align ongoing implementation projects with the final version.
In particular, companies should review:
- whether the double materiality assessment carried out meets the new requirements,
- which data points will be discontinued in future,
- which transitional provisions can be used,
- what impacts will arise for governance, control and reporting processes.
The significant reduction in reporting obligations means that many existing implementation approaches can be simplified.
From When Do the New ESRS Apply?
After the submission to the European Parliament and the Council of the EU for scrutiny, the revised ESRS were published in the Official Journal of the EU on 21 September 2026 and will then enter into force.
For CSRD reporting, they must be applied for financial years beginning on or after January 1, 2027. Application is optional already for reporting for the 2026 financial year.
Conclusion
By publishing the revised ESRS, the EU is providing greater clarity for companies that remain subject to CSRD reporting obligations. The standards remain the central framework for European sustainability reporting, but have been significantly streamlined and more strongly aligned with material information.
For affected companies, now is the right time to align existing CSRD projects with the final version of the ESRS and to make targeted use of the new reliefs.
You can find a detailed analysis of all changes, the adjustments compared with the EFRAG drafts, and the practical implications in our article “Sustainability Reporting: Publication of the Revised ESRS as a Delegated Act”.