On June 20, 2025, EFRAG released a progress report on the revision of the ESRS standards. The goal? To reduce the complexity of CSRD reporting for companies—without compromising transparency or comparability. For sustainability and finance teams, this means real, tangible simplifications ahead and a reduced reporting burden.
Here’s what you need to know.
A More Pragmatic Double Materiality Assessment
Until now, the double materiality assessment (DMA) has often been perceived as overly theoretical and burdensome—somewhere between a checklist and an endless mapping of impacts. EFRAG proposes to flip the logic: start from the business model to identify clearly material topics, and then apply the materiality filter to all datapoints, including those in ESRS 2.
The new principle? Evidence must be reasonable and proportionate. No need to document non-material topics in exhaustive detail anymore.
Reports That Are Clearer and Better Structured
The revised standards aim to prioritize the information that matters:
- An optional executive summary will give a strategic overview (like in financial statements),
- Detailed indicators (including the EU Taxonomy) can go in appendices,
- Non-material information may still be disclosed, but must be clearly separated.
Expected outcome: less duplication, less fragmentation, and a much smoother read for stakeholders.
Fewer Overlaps, More Clarity on Requirements
One of the most frequent criticisms has been about overlaps between the general requirements (ESRS 2) and topical standards. Now:
- Requirements on Policies, Actions, and Targets (PATs) will be reduced,
- PATs will only be required for material topics,
- Disclosures can be consolidated (e.g., a single environmental policy for all E-topics).
Topical standards will no longer repeat general requirements, and companies won’t need to justify why a non-material topic was excluded.
A Clearer Distinction Between Mandatory and Voluntary Content
To prevent optional disclosures from becoming implicit obligations, EFRAG proposes:
- A clear separation between mandatory, guidance-based, and voluntary content,
- Removal of some redundant or low-value datapoints.
This will help companies focus on what truly matters, without falling into a compliance trap.
Targeted Reliefs to Lighten the Load
Several measures are designed to ease the reporting burden:
- Reliefs for recent acquisitions or data gaps,
- Exclusion of non-material activities from metrics,
- Qualitative-only disclosures allowed for future impacts when estimates are too uncertain.
EFRAG also draws from IFRS S1/S2 relief mechanisms (e.g., undue cost, commercial sensitivity) to make the rules more practical for businesses.
Improved International Interoperability
Better alignment with international standards is also on the agenda:
- Harmonized terminology and GHG emissions boundaries,
- Greater compatibility with ISSB, IFRS S1/S2 and the GHG Protocol,
- Interoperability is now a formal step in the datapoint simplification process.
One Clear Target: 50% Fewer Mandatory Datapoints
EFRAG’s ambition is to reduce the number of mandatory “shall” datapoints by at least 50%, focusing on relevance and efficiency. Less critical datapoints may be moved to guidance or removed entirely, and additional clarification materials will be published as needed.
What Doesn’t Change: The Fundamentals of CSRD Still Hold
Despite the easing of technical requirements, the core principles of the CSRD remain firmly in place:
- Double materiality still stands: companies must identify and address topics that are significant to and from the business;
- The reporting perimeter aligns with financial consolidation scope, which means reporting at group level;
- Indicators must be consolidated across entities, based on data collected directly in the field;
- Transparency remains key on all material issues—even those that are complex or sensitive;
- Poorly structured or scattered data must still be cleaned, verified, and transformed into traceable and auditable indicators.
To conclude
This is exactly where Karbonpath comes in: helping sustainability and finance teams structure their materiality assessments, collect operational data, define reliable indicators, and automate CSRD reporting with tools built for real-world implementation.
Link to the official EFRAG communication : https://ycompris.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/20250619-Efrag-progress-report.pdf
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