Introduction
Since our last update, in which we reported on the adoption by the European Commission of the first ‘Omnibus' package which proposes changes to the sustainability reporting and due diligence rules under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and EU Taxonomy, there have been a number of further developments.
'Stop-the-clock’ directive - update
On 14 April 2025, the EU Council gave its final green light to one of the Commission’s proposals (the so-called ‘Stop-the-clock’ directive) to postpone the dates of application of certain corporate sustainability reporting requirements under the CSRD, as well as the transposition deadline of the CSDDD provisions. The proposal formed part of the ‘Omnibus I’ package adopted by the Commission at the end of February 2025 to simplify EU legislation in the field of sustainability.
As a result, the following CSRD and CSDDD deadlines have been postponed:
- the entry into application of the CSRD requirements for large companies that have not yet started reporting, as well as listed SMEs, by two years, and
- the transposition deadline and the first phase of the application (covering the largest companies) of the CSDDD by one year.
Following the adoption of the Commission’s proposal, the ‘Stop-the-clock’ directive was published in the EU’s Official Journal on 16 April 2025 and entered into force on 17 April 2025. Member states must transpose this directive into their national legislation by 31 December 2025.
Irish Government welcomes EU proposals to simplify corporate sustainability reporting obligations
The Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Peter Burke, has welcomed proposals by the European Commission to introduce significant changes to the requirements for companies to report on corporate sustainability matters.
As we noted in our last update, the proposals by the Commission will remove approximately 80% of companies from the scope of the CSRD. For large companies, who are the main category currently within the scope of the CSRD, the Omnibus proposal would restrict the application of the requirements to only those companies having 1,000 employees, as opposed to 250 employees under the current law.
Minister Burke has announced that he will shortly be amending the existing Irish legislation governing CSRD to further clarify and reduce the scope of companies covered.
The Minister has also said he will quickly be implementing the ‘Stop-the-Clock’ proposal together with the changes proposed by the wider Omnibus, once these are adopted at EU level.
The proposed amendments to the CSDDD which was due to come into effect by July 2026, will be postponed by a year.
For more information, please contact John Gaffney or your usual contact in Beauchamps LLP.
