The European Commission (EC) has tasked EFRAG to develop the digital XBRL taxonomy for the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) Set 1 and for the Article 8 disclosure requirements. The final XBRL taxonomy is expected to be submitted to the EC and the European Securities and Market Authority (ESMA) in the summer of 2024. On the basis of this taxonomy, ESMA will develop the draft regulatory technical standards (RTSs) for tagging the sustainability reporting, including the tagging of the sustainability statement under ESRS. The EC will subsequently adopt the RTSs by way of a delegated act.

Please click to access the consultation documents via the press release on the EFRAG website.

Note: On 3 April 2024, ​EFRAG invites stakeholders to a hybrid outreach event on the draft XBRL Taxonomy. Please click for more information and registration on the EFRAG website.

The webcasts can all be accessed on this page on the IFRS Foundation website. They are:

• Introduction (approx. 2 minutes)
• Fixed-for-fixed condition (approx. 5 minutes)
• Effects of laws or regulations on the contractual terms (approx. 6 minutes)
• Obligations to purchase own equity instruments (approx. 7 minutes)

The UKEB supports the overall conclusion in the Tentative Agenda Decision, but has suggested amendments to improve the clarity of the technical analysis and to reduce the risk of unintended consequences.

The final comment letter is available on the UKEB website. 

The Amendments specify when a currency is exchangeable and how to determine the exchange rate when it is not.

The UKEB's draft assessment tentatively concludes that:

• the Amendments meet the criteria of relevance, reliability, comparability and understandability required of the financial information needed for making economic decisions and assessing the stewardship of management, as required by SI 2019/685 (see Regulation 7(1)(c)); and 

• application of the Amendments is not contrary to the principle that an entity’s accounts must give a true and fair view as required by SI 2019/685 (see Regulation 7(1)(a)).

Additionally the UKEB tentatively concludes that the Amendments are likely to be conducive to the long-term public good in the UK (see Regulation 7(1)(b)).

Comments on the draft Endorsement Criteria Assessment are requested by 6 May 2024.

For more information, see the Invitation to Comment and draft Endorsement Criteria Assessment on the UKEB's website.

We welcome the opportunity to respond to FRED 85.

We support the Financial Reporting Council’s (FRC's) overall approach that proposes only minor amendments to FRS 101 for consistency with IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements. However, we believe that the disclosures from Supplier Finance Arrangements (Amendments to IAS 7 and IFRS 7) will also be relevant to the users of a qualifying entity and we propose to expand the scope of these requirements to those entities as well, unless equivalent disclosures are included in the consolidated financial statements of the group in which the entity is consolidated.

Our full comment letter is available here. 

The technical explanations comprise of 12 items and are grouped in chapters according to their nature (cross-cutting, environment, social and governance). 

The explanations are provided as part of EFRAG's role as technical advisor to the European Commission to provide a practical and timely support for preparers and others in the implementation of ESRSs. They have been added to the ESRS Q&A platform launched in October 2023 that entities can use to submit ESRS implementation questions to EFRAG.

To facilitate accessibility, EFRAG plans to publish at the end of each quarter a collection of all explanations published during the quarter.

For more information, including access to the technical explanations and the Q&A platform, please see the press release on the EFRAG website.  

GRI 14 was developed using a multi-stakeholder approach and addresses 25 topics within the mining sector. Among these topics are local impacts and risks, emissions, waste, human rights, land and resource rights, climate change, biodiversity, anti-corruption and community engagement. 

It also introduces three new sustainability topics to the GRI standards that are specific to the mining sector: tailings management, artisanal and small-scale mining, and operating in conflict zones.

According to the press release, GRI 14 will make it easier for entities to produce robust and comparable information to meet their reporting obligations. It applies to all entities that undertake mining or quarrying, except for coal, oil and gas, to which specific GRI sector standards apply.

For more information, including access to GRI 14, please see the press release on the GRI website.

The new standard responds to investors' demand for better information about companies financial performance and will improve how company information is communicated in the financial statements and thus investors a better basis for analysing a company's performance and making their investment decisions.

Please click to access the webcast on the IFRS Foundation website.

The research was undertaken in support of the FRC's strategic objective to create a more resilient audit market through greater competition and choice and sought to enhance understanding of entry, growth and exit of firms in the Public Interest Entity (PIE) and non-PIE audit markets by obtaining the views of smaller audit firms and non-audit firms.

The report highlights several obstacles for smaller firms to expand their presence including capacity constraints, recruitment and retention challenges and regulatory requirements.  This was especially true for PIE audits.

The FRC highlights that in order to promote greater competition and choice in the audit market, it is important that there is a collaborative, cross-system approach involving the regulator, audit firms, professional accounting bodies, and the government.

A press release and the report are available on the FRC website.

​EFRAG is seeking views on the classification, presentation, disclosures and transition requirements proposed by the IASB in the exposure draft.

The primary purpose of the survey is a qualitative assessment of the impact of the IASB proposals including any potential implementation and application concerns. However, should participants be ready to share any quantitative information, especially in the most material areas, such contributions would also be appreciated.  

Participation in the survey is encouraged by 8 March 2024.

Please click for more information and access to the survey on the EFRAG website.