EFRAG PTF-ESRS publishes another Working Paper: ESRS 1 General Provisions – ESRS 1 will result in restructuring of previously published Working Papers

On 18 March 2022 the EFRAG Project Task Force on European Sustainability Reporting Standards (PTF-ESRS) has published another working paper. The working paper published is ESRS 1 General Provisions. ESRS 1 prescribes the mandatory concepts and principles to apply for preparation of sustainability reporting under the (draft) CSRD of April 2021.

The Cover Note that has been published with ESRS 1 explains that it was concluded – when drafting the working paper ESRS 1 – that concepts, principles and some disclosure requirements that were initially included in other ESRS and also fundamental principles that were so far only addressed in ESRG (Guidelines) are now part of ESRS 1. The working paper ESRS 1 has been drafted while feedback to previously published Batch 1 papers was being analysed. This feedback has already been considered. As a result some of the following concepts, principles and disclosure requirements previously included in other ESRS and in ESRG were integrated into ESRS 1:

• some disclosure requirements about strategies and business model of an entity which provide context for their sustainability reporting (so far: ESRS 2, disclosure requirements 1-5),
• certain disclosure requirements in ESRS 4 (e.g. development of entity-specific disclosures, quality of sustainability information), and ESRS 5 with definitions for policies, targets, action plans and resources. ESRS 5 has therefore been superseded by ESRS 1.

The necessary consequential amendments to ESRS 2 and ESRS 4 have not been made yet.

The PTF-ESRS had already published other working papers on its website on 20 January 2022, 18 February 2022, 25 February 2022, 3 March 2022, and 14 March 2022. Further working papers on other sustainability issues will follow in the coming weeks.

The Sustainability Reporting Technical Committee of the Accounting Standards Committee of Germany (ASCG) has published an Initial Reaction to working papers that EFRAG PTF has published earlier. It will continue its discussion of the PTF-ESRS working papers at its meetings.