EU says making sustainability rules easier to apply is a top priority

By Huw Jones

LONDON (Reuters) – Making it easier to apply the European Union ‘taxonomy’ for classifying sustainable activities and investments to inform investors is now a top priority, the bloc’s financial services chief Mairead McGuinness said on Monday.

The bloc is introducing measures to help the economy reach net-zero emissions targets by 2050, such as through disclosures from asset managers and companies, underpinned by a taxonomy.

The taxonomy remains a “work in progress” and McGuinness said she was aware of company concerns over its “usability” as rules need to be applied next year.

“We will aim to publish over 200 frequently asked questions to help businesses with reporting obligations under the taxonomy,” she told the European Parliament.

“The goal for me is to make the taxonomy work effectively. We intend to look at this issue of usability very carefully.”

She will also publish guidance early in 2023 to clarify certain points in the bloc’s sustainability related disclosures for asset managers, known as SFDR.

“We may need to take a much broader look at this regulation,” she said, adding this would include a public consultation early in 2023, looking at the role of the rules in mitigating greenwashing or over-inflated sustainability claims.

Technical details for implementing company sustainability disclosures in annual reports, known as CSRD, will be brought forward next year as well.

“We have done a lot and now we need to make sure that collectively it works,” McGuinness said.

A phase-in rather than big bang approach is likely to be best way to add remaining “taxo4” elements to the taxonomy – water, circular economy, pollution prevention and protection of biodiversity – McGuinness said.

It would start with sectors where there is already consensus, she said.

The EU executive is also considering a proposal to inject more transparency and avoid conflicts of interest at compilers of ratings on company environmental, social and governance credentials, she said.

(Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Alistair Bell)