Voluntary Standard (VS) for sustainability reporting

What is VS?

VS is a simplified voluntary sustainability reporting standard for organizations with less than 1000 employees. It is drafted in connection with the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) aimed at increasing transparency about the impact of businesses on people and the environment.

Who is this standard for?

While the primary focus of this standard is the EU, organizations from other jurisdictions may also want to adopt it, especially if they are part of the value chain of EU-based corporations subject to CSRD. 

Why is it needed?

The implementation of EU CSRD is expected to see increase in inquiries about their sustainability performance from business partners, lenders and investors. VS aims to set a minimum level of sustainability reporting to support SMEs with communicating on their progress.

How was it developed?

The standard was developed using existing questionnaires commonly requested by financial institutions when assessing SMEs’ sustainability practices. Its first draft underwent a broad stakeholder consultation in early 2024, which informed the refinements leading to the final version now in effect.

What does it contain?

Basic and a Comprehensive modules including 20 sustainability disclosures in relation to companies performance on Environmental, Social and Governance issues. Depending on their circumstances, companies can determine if they report accordingly to one or both modules.

What are the next steps?

EFRAG is currently engaged in numerous activities to support SMEs with implementation, incl. issuance of additional guidance materials and monitoring emerging data tools and platforms. 

Which guidance materials and tools are already in place?

EFRAG has already published a number a videos in multiple European languages that explain key disclosures in scope of VS. They also released a VS Digital Template that supports reporting companies with creation of their sustainability report, in line with VS.

How was Intently involved?

We participated in the public consultation and the field test together with Lausanne-based SME CompPair Technologies and provided feedback into the current version of the standard. As a member of the VSME Community, we have also provided feedbacks into development of support guides for the prioritized topics within the standard.

Further details:

VS Standard: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:L_202601560

EFRAG Knowledge Hub: https://knowledgehub.efrag.org/eng