Abstract

Regulating the rules of non-financial reporting is one of the key instruments of the European Union to promote the idea of sustainable development. Although for the first time they had started to be discussed still before the Paris Agreement was signed, the true growth of regulations in the area of non-financial reporting could have been observed since the beginning of the third decade of the 21^st century. It was then acknowledged that the duties arising from Directive 2014/95 (NFRD) were insufficient to exert an effective impact on investors’ preferences. It turned out that failure was due to uniform standards which would make it possible to compare and verify whether the published information was true. The problem is to be resolved by Directive 2022/2464 (CSRD – Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) adopted on 14 December 2022. Together with Regulation 2020/852 (taxonomy) and the executive acts pertaining thereto, it is to constitute a set of guidelines guaranteeing comprehensiveness and cohesion of non-financial disclosures. In isolation from the benefits gained by investors and other stakeholders, non-financial reporting constitutes a considerable burden for the obligated companies. The situation of entrepreneurs is not improved by the complicated language and ambiguity of the regulations, which combined with a very short time left for the implementation of changes becomes an even greater burden.