Dive Brief:
- Ninety percent of a pool of European companies now excluded from the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive after changes to its employee and revenue thresholds still intend to maintain or expand their sustainability reporting activity, according to a report released this month.
- Almost 90% of all companies surveyed expect to increase their investment in sustainability reporting and automation over the coming year, per the report.
- However, 85% of respondents also expect that reduced regulatory scrutiny will lead to fewer internal resources being allocated to sustainability reporting, as fragmented data systems, poor technology and system integration and unclear ownership remain barriers to maintaining structured reporting.
Dive Insight:
Alterations to two major EU sustainability reporting bills, the CSRD and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, were adopted by the European Council in February 2026 as a result of an almost year-long simplification process. The altered thresholds are expected to remove 90% of companies from the CSRD’s scope and and 70% of companies from the CSDDD’s remit, law firm Ropes & Gray estimated after legislators reached an agreement in late 2025.
But the new report, conducted by supply chain data management and reporting software developer Osapiens, suggests that European companies have already embraced sustainability reporting as part of their overall strategy. The report is based on a survey conducted between December 2025 and January 2026. It surveyed 403 CFOs, CIOs, and heads of sustainability, supply chain, compliance and human rights at companies with 1000 employees or more across the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Australia and Switzerland. As a result of the Omnibus package, 24% of those companies would now fall out of scope of the CSRD, but the vast majority of them plan to continue collecting and reporting their sustainability data anyway.
Notably, 90% of all companies surveyed said that sustainability reporting is already integrated with financial reporting processes, either partially or fully. Most respondents said they expected that collaboration to deepen in the coming year.
Companies also reported using sustainability data in high-impact business decisions, such as in operational and resource planning (52.8%), innovation and process design (47.7%), financial planning and investment decisions (38.1%) and supply chain risk assessment (38.1%).
“The Omnibus has changed how sustainability reporting obligations apply, but it has not necessarily removed the underlying rationale for reporting,” Andreas Rasche, Professor of Business in Society and Associate Dean at Copenhagen Business School, said in the report. “Stakeholder expectations for sustainability reporting still exist–from business partners, investors, banks, and from society more broadly. Being ‘out of scope’ of the CSRD does not imply companies are out of scope of social and environmental risks.”
Among the benefits of reporting, 49.2% of respondents said it provides improved visibility into climate, supply chain and operational risks. Other benefits include stronger investor confidence through auditable information and meeting customer and partner reporting or audit requirements, identified as a benefit by 43.8% of respondents each. Better integration of finance and sustainability decision-making was cited as a benefit by 43.3%.
“The regulatory environment will be less predictable than in the past, but [companies] must avoid becoming paralyzed by this uncertainty,” Rasche said in an interview with Osapiens. “Companies that understand sustainability as part of long-term resilience and strategic positioning are better prepared for future market, regulatory, and geopolitical shifts. That is where the real advantage lies.”
