Disclosure of sustainability information: which duties apply?
The duty to disclose sustainability information has changed shape again in 2026. The non-financial reporting directive no longer exists as a framework in its own right: it has been absorbed into the CSRD. That CSRD has in turn been narrowed considerably by the Omnibus I package. Separate disclosure duties also flow from the Taxonomy Regulation and, for the financial sector, from the SFDR. Companies that fall outside all of those regimes still face the information request, but it reaches them through the supply chain.
The short answer
There are four layers. The CSRD requires large companies to include a sustainability statement in the management report. The Taxonomy Regulation requires those same companies to publish figures on environmentally sustainable activities. The SFDR requires financial market participants to disclose information on their products and policies. Companies outside these regimes have no statutory reporting duty, but they do face questions from customers and financiers.
The NFRD has been absorbed into the CSRD
Directive 2014/95/EU, the non-financial reporting directive or NFRD, applied to large public-interest entities with more than 500 employees. It is no longer the framework in force.
The CSRD, Directive (EU) 2022/2464, has replaced and extended those provisions. Where a text still treats the NFRD as the governing regime, that text is out of date. Our page on the CSRD covers that regime in detail.
1. The CSRD: the sustainability statement in the management report
The Omnibus I package entered into force in March 2026. Two cumulative thresholds now apply.
- More than 1,000 employees on average, and
- more than EUR 450 million in net turnover.
Both thresholds must be met. Meet only one of them and you fall outside the CSRD. Listed small and medium-sized companies fall outside it as well.
The first report covers financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2027. For companies established outside the EU, financial year 2028 is the starting point.
The reporting has the following features:
- Location. The information belongs in a separately identifiable section of the management report, not in a standalone sustainability report.
- Double materiality. You report on the effect of sustainability matters on your company, and on the effect of your company on people and the environment.
- Standards. The reporting follows the European Sustainability Reporting Standards. Those standards have been simplified. Sector-specific standards will not be introduced.
- Assurance. The auditor provides limited assurance. The move to reasonable assurance that was previously envisaged has been dropped.
- Format. The information is filed in digitally tagged form.
Dutch implementation must be complete by 19 March 2027 at the latest. The bill that anchors the CSRD in Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code is still under consideration. Bear in mind that the final text will only be settled once that process is complete.
2. The Taxonomy Regulation
Regulation (EU) 2020/852 requires companies within the scope of the CSRD to publish separate figures. You state what proportion of your turnover, capital expenditure and operating expenditure relates to environmentally sustainable activities.
Here too Omnibus has cut back. Mandatory taxonomy reporting now follows the CSRD thresholds. Large companies with more than 1,000 employees but net turnover of no more than EUR 450 million may report voluntarily.
The reporting itself has also been simplified. See our explanation of the Taxonomy Regulation.
3. SFDR: the financial sector
Regulation (EU) 2019/2088, the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, applies in full. It addresses financial market participants and financial advisers, such as managers of investment funds, insurers offering insurance products with an investment component, and pension institutions.
The SFDR provides for disclosure at two levels:
- Entity level. Website information on the policy on sustainability risks, on remuneration policy and on adverse impacts on sustainability factors.
- Product level. Information in pre-contractual documentation and periodic reports. Products that promote environmental or social characteristics, and products with sustainable investment as their objective, are subject to heavier requirements.
A revision of the SFDR is under way. It has not been completed and is not yet law in force. Until then the current framework applies in full. In the Netherlands the AFM supervises.
4. Companies outside the CSRD
If you fall below the thresholds, you owe no statutory sustainability statement. The ordinary rules for the management report in Article 2:391 of the Dutch Civil Code continue to apply.
In practice customers, banks and insurers still ask for data. Omnibus I has drawn a line here. Companies with no more than 1,000 employees on average are protected. No more may be requested from them than the voluntary reporting standard for SMEs, the VSME. A contractual provision that goes further is not enforceable.
Reporting voluntarily under the VSME can be attractive. It gives you a single set of data with which to answer every question from the chain. You can read more about this on our page on ESG reporting.
Overview
| Regime | Who | Where disclosed | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| CSRD | More than 1,000 employees and more than EUR 450 million turnover | Management report | Financial years from 1 January 2027 |
| Taxonomy Regulation | Companies within the CSRD scope | Management report | Ongoing |
| SFDR | Financial market participants and advisers | Website, prospectus, periodic report | 2021 |
| VSME | Voluntary, mainly SMEs in the chain | At your discretion | Voluntary |
Where in the annual report does what belong?
Disclosure is a financial statements question. That has practical consequences.
The sustainability information shares the timetable of the management report. It is adopted by the board, audited and filed with the trade register. The general meeting therefore receives it at the same moment as the figures.
That means you have to set up your data collection well before the financial year ends. Value chain data cannot be gathered in a matter of weeks. Start with a baseline measurement and an inventory of your information sources.
Listed companies also have to deal with the Dutch Corporate Governance Code. It calls for an explanation of the company’s view on sustainable long-term value creation, even where the company falls outside the CSRD. See our page on sustainability and the Corporate Governance Code.
Sanctions and supervision
Failing to disclose statutorily prescribed information in the management report, or disclosing it incompletely, is not without consequence.
- Interested parties can bring annual accounts proceedings before the Enterprise Chamber (Ondernemingskamer).
- For listed companies the AFM supervises financial reporting.
- Directors may be internally liable under Article 2:9 of the Dutch Civil Code.
- Misleading public statements may lead to enforcement by the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM).
Mind the content of what you publish
Disclosure carries obligations of its own. What you publish can be used against you. Incorrect or incomplete sustainability information may amount to an unfair commercial practice.
From 27 September 2026 stricter rules against misleading sustainability claims apply under Directive (EU) 2024/825, the EmpCo Directive. Generic claims without substantiation, and climate neutrality claims resting on offsetting alone, will then be prohibited. See greenwashing and environmental claims.
Frequently asked questions
May I publish my sustainability information in a separate report?
Not under the CSRD. The information belongs in the management report, in a separately identifiable section. A standalone report is permitted alongside it, but does not replace the statutory reporting.
We fell within the old CSRD thresholds. Do we now have to report after all?
Only if you meet both of the new thresholds. For companies that fall out of scope because of the increase, the package provides a transitional arrangement for the intervening financial years.
What level of assurance does the auditor give on sustainability information?
Limited assurance. The move to reasonable assurance has been dropped.
Would you like to know which disclosure duties rest on your company and how to organise them? The lawyers at Law & More in Eindhoven and Amsterdam will be glad to advise you, in Dutch or in English. You are welcome to contact us.
