{"id":33824,"date":"2025-02-06T19:08:13","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T18:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/?p=33824"},"modified":"2025-02-06T19:12:41","modified_gmt":"2025-02-06T18:12:41","slug":"european-commission-advisory-body-drafts-revised-taxonomy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/2025\/02\/06\/european-commission-advisory-body-drafts-revised-taxonomy\/","title":{"rendered":"European Commission advisory body outlines proposal for revised taxonomy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The EU Platform for Sustainable Finance has developed <a href=\"https:\/\/finance.ec.europa.eu\/document\/download\/5ae0ef14-2852-459a-bbbe-e55e1215a374_en?filename=250205-sustainable-finance-platform-simplifying-taxonomy_en.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">usability report<\/span><\/a><strong> and data to simplify the EU taxonomy<\/strong> to support sustainable finance. The report, which was prepared in February 2025, <!--more-->responds to the European Commission&#039;s mandate, which is <strong>help simplify and improve the efficiency of the taxonomy framework<\/strong> improving its usability.<\/p>\n<p>Between <strong>key areas for improvement<\/strong> These include simplification, access to data and consistency with other regulations. The report offers recommendations to the European Commission based on two years of market observations, pilot projects and communication with stakeholders, including investors, credit institutions, insurers and SMEs.<\/p>\n<p>The Platform has developed recommendations on the \u2018do no significant harm\u2019 (DNSH) criteria and proposes recommendations to support the gradual voluntary adoption of the DNSH criteria by public bodies. The aim of these recommendations is to ensure that the estimates used for financial products investing in non-EU companies \u2013 or the reporting of non-EU exposures by credit institutions \u2013 do not gain an undue advantage over products investing in EU companies that are subject to reporting obligations under the taxonomy.<\/p>\n<p>The platform also considered the following <strong>key principles when formulating recommendations for simplification<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Consistency principle: Ensure consistency between regulations by eliminating overlaps and inconsistencies.<\/li>\n<li>Proportionality principle: Recommendations should be proportionate to the complexity of the problem and take into account costs and benefits.<\/li>\n<li>The principle of future focus: The focus should be on future investments and activities, not on past activities.<\/li>\n<li>Principle of applicability: Ensure that all recommendations are practical and implementable.<\/li>\n<li>Precautionary principle: Maintain the reliability of the EU sustainable finance framework by addressing the information needs of different economic stakeholders to facilitate the achievement of the EU&#039;s climate and environmental objectives while avoiding unnecessary reporting burdens.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Between <strong>other key recommendations<\/strong> platforms include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Simplification of reporting<\/strong> within the EU taxonomy.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Facilitating access<\/strong> SMEs to sustainable financing.<\/li>\n<li>Execution <strong>comprehensive review of all DNSH criteria<\/strong> with a focus on usability, especially in terms of turnover.<\/li>\n<li>Allowing the assessment of DNSH compliance for turnover reconciliation only on the basis of the &quot;comply or explain&quot; principle as a temporary measure.<\/li>\n<li>Alignment of the requirements of the DNSH criteria with European legislation and taking into account international norms or environmental standards.<\/li>\n<li>Providing guidance on the frequency of assessments required by the DNSH criteria.<\/li>\n<li>Allowing the use of estimates and proxies to assess DNSH criteria for non-EU, non-CSRD and retail exposures of financial entities.<\/li>\n<li>Mandatory reporting of OpEx KPIs only for research and development costs.<\/li>\n<li>Simplify OpEx calculation and increase its relevance by aligning it with corporate financial reporting standards.<\/li>\n<li>Introduction of a materiality threshold for calculating KPIs in non-financial corporate reporting.<\/li>\n<li>Security <strong>coherence between different reporting regulations<\/strong> and simplifying templates by reducing the number of fields or combining templates.<\/li>\n<li>Allowing taxonomy estimates in cases where companies are not subject to taxonomy reporting.<\/li>\n<li>Developing timely guidance on \u201cassurance\u201d on taxonomy reporting, including the application of a materiality threshold or materiality principle.<\/li>\n<li>Ensuring the participation of auditors and assurance providers in the future platform and promoting common approaches to data interpretation and assurance.<\/li>\n<li>Support for voluntary reporting of a separate SME sustainability ratio by credit institutions for unlisted SMEs using the simplified approach proposed by the platform.<\/li>\n<li>Alignment of reporting obligations and methods with Commission standards and guidelines.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Solving ratio asymmetry<\/strong> by excluding assets that cannot be measured according to the taxonomy from the denominator.<\/li>\n<li>Enabling the use of EPCs, including EPC changes for renovations, as well as building codes and years of construction as estimates and proxies for lending institutions to assess their mortgages against the taxonomy.<\/li>\n<li>Exemption of credit institutions from the obligation to verify compliance with DNSH criteria as a temporary measure.<\/li>\n<li>Allowing the inclusion of listed SMEs reporting using the simplified approach developed by the platform in the GAR and GIR reader.<\/li>\n<li>Inclusion of unlisted SMEs in the reader using the simplified approach proposed by the platform.<\/li>\n<li>Simplify templates by reducing the number of fields or combining templates.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The report also contains a number of annexes with detailed information and recommendations. <strong><em>Spring<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Glossary of key terms<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive):<\/strong> The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive requires large companies and listed companies to report on the environmental and social impacts of their activities.<\/li>\n<li><strong>DNSH (Do No Significant Harm):<\/strong> \u201cDo no significant harm\u201d. The principle that, to be considered sustainable, an economic activity must not significantly harm any of the environmental objectives of the EU taxonomy.<\/li>\n<li><strong>EBA (European Banking Authority):<\/strong> European Banking Authority. An independent EU body whose aim is to ensure effective and consistent regulation and supervision of the banking sector in Europe.<\/li>\n<li><strong>EEA (European Environment Agency):<\/strong> European Environment Agency. An EU agency whose mission is to provide reliable and independent information on the environment.<\/li>\n<li><strong>EFRAG (European Financial Reporting Advisory Group):<\/strong> European Financial Reporting Advisory Group. A private, non-profit organisation that provides technical advice to the European Commission in the field of accounting.<\/li>\n<li><strong>EIOPA (European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority):<\/strong> European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority. An EU body that aims to ensure effective and consistent regulation and supervision of the insurance and occupational pensions sectors in Europe.<\/li>\n<li><strong>EPC (Energy Performance Certificate):<\/strong> Energy Performance Certificate. A document that provides information about the energy efficiency of a building.<\/li>\n<li><strong>ESAs (European Supervisory Authorities):<\/strong> European Supervisory Authorities. Collective designation for EBA, ESMA and EIOPA.<\/li>\n<li><strong>ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance):<\/strong> Environmental, social and governance factors. Criteria that investors use to assess the sustainability and ethical impact of an investment.<\/li>\n<li><strong>ESMA (European Securities and Markets Authority):<\/strong> European Securities and Markets Authority. The European regulatory authority overseeing European financial markets.<\/li>\n<li><strong>ESRS (European Sustainability Reporting Standards):<\/strong> European Sustainability Reporting Standards. They set out specific requirements for sustainability reporting within the CSRD.<\/li>\n<li><strong>EU Taxonomy:<\/strong> EU Taxonomy. A classification system established by the European Union to determine which economic activities are environmentally sustainable.<\/li>\n<li><strong>FinGuar KPI (Financial Guarantees KPI):<\/strong> Financial Guarantees KPI. A performance indicator (KPI) related to financial guarantees in the context of sustainable finance.<\/li>\n<li><strong>FMP (Financial Market Participant):<\/strong> Financial market participant. An entity that participates in financial markets, such as investment firms, asset managers, and insurance companies.<\/li>\n<li><strong>GAR (Green Asset Ratio):<\/strong> Green Assets Ratio. An indicator used by credit institutions to report the proportion of assets that comply with the EU taxonomy.<\/li>\n<li><strong>GHG (Greenhouse Gas):<\/strong> Greenhouse gas. A gas in the atmosphere that absorbs and radiates heat.<\/li>\n<li><strong>GIR (Green Investment Ratio):<\/strong> Green Investment Indicator. An indicator used to measure the proportion of investments that are environmentally sustainable.<\/li>\n<li><strong>IPSF (International Platform on Sustainable Finance):<\/strong> International Platform for Sustainable Finance. An international forum to promote cooperation in the field of sustainable finance.<\/li>\n<li><strong>KPI (Key Performance Indicator):<\/strong> Key performance indicator. A measurable value that demonstrates how effectively a company is achieving key business objectives.<\/li>\n<li><strong>M-CGT (Multi-jurisdiction Common Ground Taxonomy):<\/strong> A common taxonomy for multiple jurisdictions. An effort to harmonize different national and regional taxonomies for sustainable finance.<\/li>\n<li><strong>MS (Minimum Safeguards):<\/strong> Minimum safeguards. A set of minimum social and governance standards that activities must meet to be considered sustainable under the EU taxonomy.<\/li>\n<li><strong>OpEx (Operating Expenditure):<\/strong> Operating costs. Costs associated with the normal operation of a business or asset.<\/li>\n<li><strong>SC (Screening Criteria):<\/strong> Screening criteria. A set of quantitative and qualitative criteria that must be met for an economic activity to qualify as environmentally sustainable according to the EU taxonomy.<\/li>\n<li><strong>SFDR (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation):<\/strong> Regulation on the disclosure of information in the financial services sector related to sustainability. It sets out transparency requirements for financial market participants in the area of integrating sustainability risks and impacts.<\/li>\n<li><strong>SME (Small and Medium-sized Enterprise):<\/strong> Small and medium-sized enterprise. An enterprise that meets certain criteria regarding the number of employees and turnover.<\/li>\n<li><strong>SSA (Sovereigns, Supranational and Agencies):<\/strong> Sovereign, supranational and agency entities. Debt issuers representing states, international organisations and agencies established by them.<\/li>\n<li><strong>TSC (Technical Screening Criteria):<\/strong> Technical assessment criteria. A set of quantitative and qualitative requirements that an economic activity must meet in order to be qualified as environmentally sustainable according to the EU taxonomy.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Turnover KPI:<\/strong> Key performance indicator of turnover.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Use of Proceeds (UoP):<\/strong> Use of proceeds. Indicates how the proceeds from the bond or loan will be used. In the context of sustainable finance, proceeds are typically used to fund projects with environmental or social benefits.<\/li>\n<\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The EU Platform for Sustainable Finance has produced a usability and data report to simplify the EU taxonomy to support sustainable finance. The report, which was produced in February 2025,<\/p>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-esg_legislativa"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33824\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.co2news.sk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}