EU opens feedback on revised ESRS after major datapoint cuts

The European Commission has launched a one-month feedback process on revised ESRS and a voluntary standard for smaller companies. The draft reduces mandatory datapoints by more than 60 percent and total datapoints by more than 70 percent, while introducing a value-chain cap that limits what in-scope CSRD companies can demand from partners with 1,000 employees or fewer. For legal teams, this is a simplification moment, but also a contract and assurance moment: reporting obligations are narrowing, evidence expectations are not disappearing.