EU Publishes Final Revised ESRS - What Changes From 2027

Sep 25

4 min read

We Decode Regulation

For the last two years, one question has followed every CSRD conversation. Will sustainability reporting really become simpler, or will companies still be buried under datapoints?

On 21 September 2026, the EU gave its answer.

The final revised European Sustainability Reporting Standards, or ESRS, were published in the Official Journal of the European Union. This is not another consultation or a draft. It is the revised rulebook.

What exactly was published

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1563 amends the original ESRS delegated act from 2023. It replaces Annexes I and II of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772 with the revised standards.

The dates matter

- 3 July 2026 - the European Commission adopted the revised standards

- 21 September 2026 - the final text was published in the Official Journal

- 10 November 2026 - the regulation enters into force

- Financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2027 - the revised ESRS apply

The 2026 transition choice

For financial years starting between 1 January 2026 and 31 December 2026, companies already within the scope of the current ESRS have a choice.

They can apply

1. The current ESRS, as last amended in 2025

2. The revised ESRS

3. The current ESRS with selected reliefs from the revised version

These reliefs cover areas such as the top-down approach to the double materiality assessment, undue cost and effort, value-chain limits, acquisitions and disposals, partial value-chain reporting, joint operations, presentation of Taxonomy disclosures, and the executive summary.

Whichever route a company chooses, it must clearly state in its sustainability statement which version it has applied.

What has been simplified

The Commission says the revised ESRS reduce mandatory datapoints by over 60% and total datapoints by more than 70%. It also expects reporting costs to fall by over 30% per company.

The changes are not only about fewer datapoints.

The revised standards

- give more weight to quantitative datapoints over narrative text

- separate mandatory and voluntary datapoints more clearly

- give clearer instructions on how to apply materiality

- clarify fair presentation and aggregation

- introduce more flexibility on anticipated financial effects and certain omissions

- improve consistency with other EU laws

- take account of interoperability with global sustainability reporting standards

In short, the EU is trying to reduce reporting work that does not add decision-useful information.

Comparison graphic showing what changed in the revised ESRS, including fewer datapoints and clearer materiality guidance, and what stayed, including double materiality and evidence requirements.

What has not changed

The core idea of CSRD reporting stays.

Double materiality still sits at the centre of ESRS. Companies still need to report material impacts on people and the environment, along with material sustainability-related risks and opportunities.

The standards still cover environmental, social and governance topics, including climate change, pollution, water, biodiversity, circular economy, workers, communities, consumers and business conduct.

So this is not a move away from sustainability reporting. It is a move away from reporting everything, whether it is useful or not.

The voluntary standard matters too

Alongside the revised ESRS, the EU published Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1560. This creates a voluntary sustainability reporting standard for companies outside the mandatory CSRD scope.

It also sets the value-chain cap.

This means companies reporting under CSRD cannot ask value-chain companies with an average of up to 1,000 employees for more sustainability information than the voluntary standard allows, when that information is being collected for CSRD reporting.

The value-chain cap applies from financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2027.

For suppliers, including Indian companies selling into EU value chains, this could reduce the long, inconsistent ESG questionnaires that often arrive from different customers in different formats.

It does not remove every customer request. It also does not affect information needed under other EU or national laws. But it should push large companies towards more standard, proportionate asks.

Animated timeline showing the revised ESRS adoption on 3 July 2026, Official Journal publication on 21 September 2026, entry into force on 10 November 2026, and application from financial years beginning in 2027.

What should companies do now

If you report for FY 2026, decide early which ESRS version you will use and record that choice internally.

If you report from FY 2027, start the gap assessment now. Do not wait for the year-end.

Update your double materiality process so it matches the revised guidance. Keep the evidence behind every inclusion and exclusion.

Map your current datapoints against the revised ESRS. Some data collection may no longer be needed. Some data will still need better ownership and controls.

Brief procurement, sales and supplier-facing teams on the value-chain cap. This is where many companies will feel the change first.

Finally, track EFRAG's Knowledge Hub. EFRAG has said it will update its voluntary-standard guidance, translations and digital template in November 2026.

If your team wants practical help turning the revised ESRS into a reporting plan, our CSRD Workshop walks through the steps.

https://www.sustainability101.in/csrdreportingworshop

The bottom line

The revised ESRS reduce the paperwork around material information. They do not remove the need to understand your impacts, risks and opportunities.

Companies that treat this as a simple datapoint cut will miss the point. The real work now is to decide what is material, collect the right evidence, and build a reporting process that can stand up to review.

Regulation feels lighter when you know what changed and what still matters. We will keep decoding it with you, one update at a time.