News · Accounting · – October 2026
Directive (EU) 2026/470 of 24 February 2026 (the so-called Omnibus I), published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 26 February and in force from 18 March 2026, has redrawn the scope of Articles 19a and 29a of Directive 2013/34/EU: for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2027 sustainability reporting is mandatory only for undertakings, and for parent undertakings on a consolidated basis, that exceed both 1,000 employees on average and EUR 450 million in net turnover. Listed SMEs fall outside the mandatory scope. First-wave undertakings remain subject to the previous rules for financial years 2024 to 2026, but Member States may exempt, for financial years 2025 and 2026, those below the new thresholds. In September 2026 the implementing framework was completed: on 21 September two Commission delegated regulations of 3 July 2026 were published in the EU Official Journal. Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1563 replaces Annexes I and II to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772 with the simplified ESRS; it enters into force on 10 November 2026 and applies to financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2027. For financial year 2026 undertakings already in scope may apply the current standards, the same standards with certain exemptions introduced by the new ones, or the new ESRS, stating the version chosen in the sustainability statement. Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1560, adopted under the new Article 29ca, lays down the voluntary sustainability reporting standard for undertakings outside the mandatory scope: it builds on Commission Recommendation (EU) 2025/1710 of 30 July 2025 on the VSME, with a basic module and a comprehensive module, and has been in force since 24 September 2026.
Regulation 2026/1560 also sets the value-chain cap. For financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2027 an undertaking in scope may not require, for the purposes of its own reporting, suppliers and customers that did not exceed 1,000 employees on average in the previous financial year (protected undertakings) to provide information beyond that in Annex II. Under Article 19a(3) of Directive 2013/34/EU, as amended, a protected undertaking may refuse the excess data, contractual clauses imposing it are not binding, and the undertaking in scope may rely on the supplier’s self-declaration unless it is manifestly incorrect. The cap does not affect requests made for other purposes, such as EU due diligence obligations; banks, insurers and other financial operators are merely encouraged, by recital 5, to stay within Annex I. Under the same recital, from 24 September 2026 Recommendation 2025/1710 has no legal effect, and undertakings applying the voluntary standard need not obtain assurance. At national level, Legislative Decree (d.lgs.) No 125 of 6 September 2024, in the text in force on 24 October 2026, has not yet been aligned with Directive 2026/470, which must be transposed by 19 March 2027 as regards the sustainability reporting amendments. Article 17, as amended by Article 10(1-bis) of Decree-Law (d.l.) No 95 of 30 June 2025, converted into law by Law No 118 of 8 August 2025, implementing the “stop-the-clock” Directive (EU) 2025/794, still provides for the obligation for large undertakings from financial year 2027 and for listed SMEs from 2028; Article 1(n) treats as large those companies exceeding two of the limits of EUR 25 million in total assets, EUR 50 million in turnover and 250 employees. In our view, companies falling between the national limits and the new EU thresholds should not stop collecting 2027 data until the transposing decree is published.
Summary note by the CommercialistiAvvocati network, based on specialised legal and practice sources. The text does not reproduce original contributions and does not constitute professional advice.