New EU Directive on the Disclosure of Non-Financial Information (CSR)

Abstract

In October 2014 the EU adopted new rules on the disclosure of non-financial information, otherwise known as corporate social responsibility (CSR) information. The new requirements bring the CSR disclosure regulation in the EU in line with the current best practices and constitute a huge step forward compared to the existing rules on the disclosure of non-financial information.

This article analyses the likely impact of the amended Accounting Directive; its scope of application, what should be disclosed and how the directive should be enforced. In doing so, the article compares the new requirements to current best practices and experiences, especially using the experiences with mandatory CSR reporting in Denmark and the experiences with corporate governance reporting in the EU. Based on these experiences the article also makes predictions of whether the new requirements are likely to increase the quantity of the non-financial information disclosed and the consistency and comparability of the reports.

Keywords: disclosure, non-financial information, CSR, corporate governance, Accounting Directive, impact

JEL Classification: K22