Cost-benefit analysis of the First Set of draft European Sustainability Reporting Standards

In April 2021, the European Commission published, as part of the sustainable finance package, a proposal for a Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The CSRD replaces the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD), expanding its scope and content with the aim to improve the quality of the reported information and to standardise sustainability information for EU reporters. The responsibility for drafting of these European sustainability reporting standards has been assigned to EFRAG, which issued its technical advice in the form of a first set of draft European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) to the European Commission in November 2022. 

In the context of the work performed by EFRAG on the ESRS, this report aims to assess the costs and benefits of the first set of draft ESRS and presents evidence and data collected in the context of this costs and benefits analysis. Moreover, to support the costs and benefits analysis, this report also presents an assessment of the impact of the first set of draft ESRS across different stakeholder groups. These are mainly EU undertakings (under the scope of the CSRD or that form part of their value chain), investors, NGOs, trade unions and society at large.