On 18 February 2026, the European Banking Authority (“EBA“) published an Opinion on the draft amended European Sustainability Reporting Standards (“ESRS“) developed by the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group, EFRAG (“Opinion“). It follow upon other opinions on the matter issued by the uropean Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), and the European Central Bank (ECB). The Opinion is available at this link.

The EBA welcomes the progress achieved by EFRAG in streamlining and clarifying several aspects of the initial standards and supports the general approach that aims to reduce the sustainability reporting compliance costs. ​​However, the EBA calls for institutions to keep analysing sustainability related risks and recommends  time-limits for alleviations in a number of areas. The Opinion focuses on key aspects and concerns related to the proposed reliefs, specially those with a permanent nature, and their possible consequences. In particular, the possible cumulative impact of the overall set of reliefs may significantly reduce the amount of quantitative ESG information reported by undertakings, against one of the objectives expressed by the Commission when opening this review (i.e. prioritise quantitative data). This means shifting the burden onto users of the information, including banks. The EBA encourages the Commission to consider the issues described in the Opinion before adoption of the amended draft ESRS.

Undertakings within the scope of the revised CSRD – typically the largest and best-resourced companies – should be capable of meeting these requirements. The EBA notes that granting such reliefs without an adequate time-limit may undermine the interoperability with international sustainability standards, and would increase the burden on users of the information, such as financial institutions, who may need to resort to the bilateral contact with their counterparties to request ESG information necessary for their risk management.