The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has announced that it is contemplating amendments to the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), which underpin the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The proposed changes would significantly decrease the number of data points companies need to report, reducing them by roughly two-thirds. A major aspect of this proposal involves the elimination of voluntary disclosures, or “may” data points.
These plans were unveiled alongside the release of EFRAG’s “Amended ESRS Exposure Draft,” which precedes a meeting to discuss the draft. EFRAG clarified that the draft does not yet represent its official stance regarding the ESRS update. Should these changes be ratified, they would result in an even more substantial reduction in data points than EFRAG’s previously reported plans to cut over 50% of ESRS data points.
The meeting follows the European Commission’s release of the Omnibus I package in late February, which aims to considerably ease the sustainability reporting and regulatory load on companies. This package includes proposals for significant revisions to several regulations, including the CSRD, Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), the Taxonomy Regulation, and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
As part of the Omnibus package, the Commission put forward plans to revise the ESRS, intending to sharply reduce the data points required by the sustainability reporting standards.
EFRAG was tasked by the European Commission in June 2020 to develop the initial ESRS, which were adopted by the Commission in 2023. In response to the Omnibus package, the Commission further instructed EFRAG to provide technical advice for revising the ESRS in alignment with the simplification objectives.
In the new draft document, EFRAG articulated its goal to create a revised set of ESRS that better facilitate relevant and useful general-purpose sustainability statements, aligning with the CSRD’s policy objectives, while significantly reducing both the reporting effort and the number of mandatory data points.
The publication identifies several key areas of focus for EFRAG’s revision efforts, including a strong emphasis on simplifying the double materiality assessment (DMA). The DMA has been identified as a significant source of burden in practice, and the draft includes a new section on “practical considerations,” clarifying that the expected level of evidence to support conclusions must be reasonable and proportionate. Other adjustments aim to avoid unnecessary detail in reported information.
The draft also proposes revisions to produce more readable and concise sustainability statements, such as introducing options for an executive summary in the report and using appendices to disclose detailed metrics.
Other key levers to simplify reporting obligations in the draft include modifying the relationship between Minimum Disclosure Requirements (MDR) and topical specifications to achieve substantial reductions in mandatory reporting requirements, introducing additional reliefs, and enhancing interoperability with IFRS S1 and S2.
EFRAG stated that it has reviewed all mandatory data points to achieve a significant reduction, following a “more principle-based approach,” and applying criteria to eliminate the least relevant disclosures. After this review, EFRAG anticipates a reduction of more than 50% in mandatory, or “shall,” data points, “while preserving the integrity of the core objectives of the CSRD.” Furthermore, it “took a drastic decision in relation to the former ‘may’ data points (voluntary disclosure),” opting to eliminate all “may” data points.
Overall, the draft estimates that the revision will reduce ESRS data points by approximately 66%.
[Access the draft report here.](https://www.efrag.org/sites/default/files/media/document/2025-07/03-cover-_intro_to_draft_amended_esrs_wording_documents.pdf)