European Contact Group responds to EFRAG consultation on draft European Sustainability Reporting Standards
The European Contact Group (ECG), which brings together the six large professional services networks in Europe (BDO, Deloitte, EY, Grant Thornton, KPMG and PwC), responded to the the public consultation on the draft European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) developed by the EFRAG Project Task Force (PTF).
Sustainability reporting standards are a fundamental component in achieving the high quality, reliable and comparable corporate information needed for decision-making and to transform the European economy to a sustainable one. Other key components include effective internal processes and controls, independent audit committees, high quality independent external assurance, engaged investors and stakeholders and strong supervisory bodies.
The draft ESRS are without doubt comprehensive. That said, we have concerns about their international interoperability, complexity, practicability for companies to implement, and due process. In our letter we make recommendations on how the standards can be improved to address these concerns and to help ensure that the standards can achieve their objectives and command the confidence of preparers, users and other stakeholders.
ECG Chairman Maurizio Donvito said:
‘The ECG supports the ambition and objectives of the European Green Deal. There is a need for sustainability standards of high quality that deliver relevant information to stakeholders, including investors, and help companies to describe how they are transforming their business models for sustainability.’
The members of the ECG are networks of independent and locally owned firms providing accountancy, auditing and consulting services. Firms in the ECG networks collectively employ 290.000 people in EU Member States and are present with 1.300 office locations in over 340 European cities.