EU Sustainable Finance Framwork to be completed
Eurosif welcomes pledge from new Commissioners to implement and complete the EU sustainable finance framework
Photo credit: Alexey Larionov
Today, Members of the European Parliament, gathered in plenary session in Strasbourg, voted to confirm the appointment of the new college of European Commissioners. The new European Commission will now take office on 1 December.
Eurosif congratulates the European Commissioners on their appointment and is looking forward to seeing how their pledges on EU sustainable finance will translate into concrete action.
We welcome the commitment made by Maria Luís Albuquerque, Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investments Union, to ensure the EU sustainable finance framework delivers on the objectives of the Green Deal and prevents greenwashing. We also support her promise to create financial product categories underpinned by minimum criteria as part of the review of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).
“As rightly pointed out by Ms. Albuquerque, sustainability will be essential for Europe’s medium to long-term competitiveness. This means resolving the short-term growing pains of implementing new rules on corporate sustainability reporting (CSRD and ESRS), clarifying the SFDR to combat greenwashing, and bridging the remaining gaps and inconsistencies of the EU sustainable finance framework. Eurosif is keen to support the Commissioner and her team in doing so."
Nathalie Dogniez, Chair of Eurosif
Eurosif will be particularly attentive to Commissioner Albuquerque’s pledge to avoid deregulation, echoed by Commissioner for Democracy, Justice and the Rule of Law Michael McGrath’s commitment to implementing the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD).
While ensuring consistency and usability across EU regulations is important, the thorough implementation of adopted rules is essential for the current EU sustainable finance regulatory framework to facilitate the contribution of investors to sustainable growth.
“As a first step to reach the industrial decarbonisation objectives of EU institutions and member states, we stress the importance of a thorough implementation of CSRD, ESRS and CSDDD. These rules are essential to facilitate the role of investors in scaling-up investments for sustainable growth and driving the just transition to a low-carbon economy.”
Aleksandra Palinska, Executive Director of Eurosif
She added: ‚Insufficient availability, quality, comparability and reliability of corporate sustainability - related disclosures remains a challenge for investors, who need sustainability data to make informed investment decisions.
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), once duly implemented, are expected to close the sustainability data gap.”