Requires certain companies to disclose information relating to their operations and management of social and environmental issues.
Does not require comprehensive reporting, simply the disclosure of information on policies, outcomes, and risks.
The law is flexible by allowing companies to choose national, EU or international guidelines
Due Diligence
Normative scope
Human Rights
Including treatment of employees
Environment
Other Social Matters
Broad ranging
Value chain scope
Own Operations
Subsidiaries
Direct Suppliers
Indirect Suppliers
Full Value Chain
Company scope
Large Companies
Public-interest companies with at least 500 employees.
Approximately 11,700 companies across the EU fulfill these requirements including: listed companies, banks, insurance companies and other companies that national authorities have designated as public-interest entities.
SMEs
All sectors
Administrative enforcement
Monitoring
EU member-states must ensure that the statutory auditor or audit firm checks whether companies have provided a non-financial statement within their management report (Article 19a(5)). The statement must include a description of the policies pursued in relation to environmental, social and employee matters, respect for human rights, anti-corruption and bribery and the diversity of their boards as well as any due diligence processes implemented.
Enforced through national administrative mechanisms
Administrative Sanctions
Judicial enforcement
Civil Liability
Facilitating Access To Justice
More information
Amended by Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) adopted of 14 December 2022.
The CSRD requires assurance of reported information and for companies to report in line with mandatory EU sustainability reporting standards. Draft standards on EU sustainability reporting will be developed by the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG).
Under the CSRD, companies need to digitally tag reported information into a European single access point.
The CSRD introduces a general EU-wide audit (assurance) requirement for reported sustainability information to ensure that reported information is accurate and reliable.
Compared to NFRD, company scope is extended to all large companies and companies listed on regulated markets except for listed micro-enterprises, this means that around 50,000 companies in the EU would be required to comply.
June 2019: European Commission publishes guidelines on reporting climate-related information to supplement the guidelines on non-financial reporting which remain applicable.
June 2017: European Commission publishes non-mandatory guidelines to help companies disclose information on environmental and social matters.
The rules introduced by the NFRD remain in force until companies have to apply the new rules of the CSRD.