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Simplified ESRS: Reducing the reporting burden, enhancing clarity and promoting transparency

Dec 10, 2025 Sustainability / Audit

In early December 2025, EFRAG published the draft Simplified European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) as part of its broader effort to reduce complexity and ensure a proportional approach based on the size. capacity and impact of an organization. The updated framework aims to ease administrative burdens while strengthening the clarity and relevance of sustainability information, helping companies shift compliance-driven reporting toward a more performance-oriented approach.

Core Adjustments in the Simplified ESRS
The revised standards introduce a more focused and practical reporting structure:
  • Datapoint reduction: Mandatory datapoints have been reduced by approximately 61%, though the degree of simplification varies across individual standards. Some topical areas underwent more extensive adjustments than others. A detailed breakdown of these changes is available in EFRAG’s factsheet .
  • Materiality assessment: The materiality process has been streamlined through clearer guidance, a simplified structure, and improved alignment with audit expectations. Companies can now concentrate on topics that are genuinely material, as documentation for areas assessed as immaterial is no longer required.
  • Value-chain data: Value-chain disclosures have become more workable by removing the previous requirement to obtain direct data from suppliers. Organizations may now apply estimates and secondary data where appropriate, easing reporting challenges—particularly for complex or global supply chains.
  • Phase-ins and reliefs: New phase-ins and relief provisions offer a more proportionate approach to reporting on difficult topics. They give organizations additional time to develop data, processes, and methodologies, while still requiring clear disclosure of any gaps or limitations.
  • Enhanced Interoperability: Interoperability with international standards has been strengthened, particularly through closer alignment with the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). Shared disclosure topics, a harmonized GHG emissions boundary, and clearer links to anticipated financial effects reduce the efforts of reporting under both frameworks.
In addition, EFRAG has introduced the ESRS Knowledge Hub , a central platform for accessing the standards, guidance materials, and updates to help organizations navigate evolving reporting requirements more effectively.
A Clearer Framework for Strategic Sustainability Reporting
The Simplified ESRS places stronger emphasis on information that supports decision-making and reflects an organization’s material sustainability impacts, risks, and opportunities. This increased clarity not only reduces unnecessary reporting efforts but also enables companies to integrate sustainability data more effectively into governance, planning, and performance management.
Timeline for Adoption
The draft standards have now been submitted to the European Commission, which will now conduct internal and external consultations and engage with the European Parliament and the Council. This process is expected to take six to nine months, after which the updated standards will be adopted through a Delegated Act for use in future reporting years.
Supporting Organizations Through the Transition
DEKRA assists companies in preparing for the revised ESRS through its comprehensive Sustainability Disclosure & Reporting Advisory Program, supporting the development of effective processes, governance structures, and reporting frameworks that generate measurable performance insights.
Learn more: Sustainability Disclosure & Reporting Advisory Program
To build internal skills and implementation capabilities, DEKRA’s Corporate Sustainability Training provides practical guidance on materiality, reporting structures, and sustainability governance.
Discover more: Corporate Sustainability Training
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