EU Environmental Taxonomy: New delegated acts published

On 13 June 2023, the European Commission published two delegated acts to the EU Environmental Taxonomy Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2020/852). At the same time, a draft FAQ document on the application of the minimum safeguards according to Article 18 of the Environmental Taxonomy Regulation and other documents on the Sustainable Finance Initiative of the European Commission were published.

The first delegated act contains a delegated regulation with seven annexes. The first four annexes contain new technical screening criteria for the four non-climate related environmental objectives of the EU Environmental Taxonomy. The new screening criteria cover both economic activities already covered by the EU environmental taxonomy and those not yet covered. Annexes five to seven contain amendments to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2178 on reporting.

The second delegated act is a delegated regulation with two annexes and amends Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2139 regarding the two climate-related environmental objectives of the EU environmental taxonomy. The two annexes contain new technical screening criteria that also relate to both economic activities already covered by the EU environmental taxonomy and those not yet covered.

The ASCG published a comment letter on the consultation of the two delegated acts and will continue to engage with developments on EU environmental taxonomy. In the past, we held eleven user forums on the EU Environmental Taxonomy with our member companies and associations. The problems and possible solutions discussed in the user forums were forwarded to the European Commission in the form of submissions. Some of the issues raised in the submissions are also addressed in the FAQ documents published by the European Commission. Additional information can be found on the relevant ASCG project page.