CSRD – typically the largest and best-resourced companies – should be capable of meeting these requirements. The EBA notes that granting such reliefs without an adequate time-limit may undermine the interoperability with international sustainability standards, and would increase the burden on users of the information, such as financial institutions, who may need to resort to the bilateral contact with their counterparties to request information necessary for their risk management.

​​The European Commission also requested an Opinion from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), and the European Central Bank (ECB). ​

Legal basis and background

This Opinion is based on Article 16a(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010 (‘EBA founding regulation’), which mandates the EBA to issue opinions in its area of competence as requested by the European Commission. In addition, Article 49(3b) of Directive 2013/34/EU (Accounting Directive), as amended by the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), lays down the conditions for the adoption by the European Commission of the delegated acts on the ESRS, including the need to request an opinion, among others, to the EBA.

In 2025, EFRAG was requested by the European Commission to deliver a technical advice on how to simplify the delegated act1 on the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS ‘Set 1’) by November 2025. EFRAG completed this simplification exercise at the end of November and published the draft amended ESRS on 3 December 2025, after a public consultation period in the summer of 2025.

The draft amended ESRS set out simplified rules and requirements for companies to report on sustainability-related aspects under the Corporate Sustainable Reporting Directive (CSRD).