In brief

  • A large customer will no longer be able to ask a supplier with at most 1,000 employees for more than 23 sustainability data points. The list of them is written out item by item in Annex II to the regulation: 15 come from the basic module of the standard, 8 from the comprehensive module. For suppliers with at most 10 employees, the cap comes down to 9 of the 23.
  • The reporting standard can be used from 24 September 2026, and the cap applies only to financial years starting on or after 1 January 2027. There are 99 days between the two dates. An undertaking reporting voluntarily is not required to obtain any assurance on the information it publishes.
  • The right to refuse questions that go beyond the cap comes not from the regulation but from the directive that Romania has to transpose by 19 March 2027. That is exactly 11 weeks of the first financial year covered in which the Romanian text may still be missing. The cap covers only requests made for sustainability reporting: a bank asking for the same data for a loan stays outside it.
Act: Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1560 of 3 July 2026 supplementing Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council by establishing sustainability reporting standards for voluntary use by undertakings protected by the value chain cap
Published: Official Journal of the European Union, L series, 2026/1560 of 21 September 2026
In force from: 24 September 2026, on the third day following publication in the Official Journal of the European Union, under Article 4; Article 3, the one containing the value chain cap, applies to financial years starting on or after 1 January 2027

The European Commission has put a written limit on what a large company may ask of its small suppliers when drawing up its sustainability report: 23 data points, listed one by one in Annex II. Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1560, published on 21 September 2026 in the Official Journal of the European Union, enters into force on 24 September 2026 and produces effects without needing any Romanian act. The cap has a precise boundary, however, written into the preamble: it covers only requests made for sustainability reporting, not data requested for other European obligations, such as proof that goods do not come from deforested land, an obligation whose product list the Commission rewrote in September 2026.

The regulation has four articles and five annexes and appendices, over 34 pages. Article 2 says that undertakings not caught by mandatory reporting may present sustainability information voluntarily, following the standard in Annex I. Article 3 says that the same standard sets the value chain cap for undertakings caught by mandatory reporting, and that the cap „includes only the data points specified in Annex II”. Article 1 defines the cap: the upper limit of the sustainability information that an undertaking required to report may request from undertakings in its value chain that do not exceed, at the balance sheet date, an average of 1,000 employees during the preceding financial year.

The standard in Annex I has 64 numbered points and is divided into two modules. The basic module comprises disclosures B1, the basis for preparation, B2, practices and policies, and indicators B3 to B11: energy and emissions, pollution of air, water and soil, biodiversity, water, waste and the circular economy, then three disclosures on the workforce and one on convictions and fines for corruption and bribery. The comprehensive module adds nine disclosures, from C1 to C9. Point 6 says that the basic module is the target approach for micro-undertakings and the minimum requirement for the others, and point 7 that the comprehensive module cannot be applied without it. Appendix A gives the defined terms, Appendix B the list of possible sustainability matters, and Appendix C the reconciliation with other European rules, for financial market participants.

The legal basis is Article 29ca(1) of Directive 2013/34/EU, the text introduced in February 2026 by Directive (EU) 2026/470, known as Omnibus I. That article required the Commission to establish the standard by 19 July 2026 and obliged it to build it on Recommendation (EU) 2025/1710 of 30 July 2025, „in its original version”. The Commission adopted the regulation on 3 July 2026, 16 days ahead of the deadline, but the text reached the Official Journal of the European Union 80 days later, on 21 September 2026.

What it changes in practice

From 24 September 2026, a company in Romania with at most 1,000 employees can draw up its sustainability report following the European standard, without being obliged to anything. Point 20 of the standard says that the report may stay between the company and its business partners, and that if it wants to publish it, it may put it in a separate section of the management report or in a document of its own. The preamble adds something companies ask about first: anyone applying the standard is not required to obtain any assurance on the information reported, so no auditor is needed for it.

The cap, the genuinely binding part, reaches the other camp. From financial years starting on 1 January 2027, an undertaking required to report may no longer ask a protected supplier, for the purposes of its own sustainability reporting, for anything beyond the 23 items in Annex II. Nine of them may also be asked of a supplier with at most 10 employees: the module option chosen and the basis of reporting, individual or consolidated, the general information about the undertaking under point 27(e), the number of employees by type of contract and by gender, the number and rate of recordable work-related accidents, compliance with the minimum wage, the percentage of employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement and the average number of training hours per year.

The other 14 items may be asked only of suppliers with more than 10 employees: total energy consumption in MWh, the estimate of gross greenhouse gas emissions, total water withdrawal, the application of circular economy principles, the weight of waste generated and the proportion sent for recycling or reuse, the description of products, markets and main business relationships, the employee replacement rate, the existence of a code of conduct and of a grievance mechanism, plus confirmed human rights incidents, among own employees and among workers in the value chain.

The most practical piece of information comes from subtracting Annex II from the standard: of the standard’s 20 disclosures, the cap touches only 11. Left entirely outside it, and therefore not available to be requested for sustainability reporting, are B2, sustainability practices and policies, B4, pollution of air, water and soil, B5, biodiversity, B11, convictions and fines for corruption and bribery, then C2, C3, emission reduction targets, C4, climate risks, C8, revenue from certain activities, and C9, the gender diversity ratio in the governance body.

The sanction is not in the regulation. It comes from Directive (EU) 2026/470, which added three linked rules to Directive 2013/34/EU: the reporting undertaking does not request, by contract or otherwise, information going beyond the standard; a contractual clause to the contrary „shall not be binding”, the rest of the contract remaining valid; and if it does ask for more, it has to tell the supplier exactly what goes beyond the standard and that the supplier has a legal right to refuse. In addition, the assurance opinion on the sustainability reporting has to be drawn up so as to respect that right of refusal in full. The reporting undertaking may rely on a self-declaration by the supplier as to the number of employees and is not required to verify it, but it cannot hide behind it if it knows it to be manifestly incorrect.

What has changed compared with the previous situation

Until now there was a voluntary reporting standard, but it was a recommendation. Recommendation (EU) 2025/1710, published on 5 August 2025, proposed the same modular structure, without obliging anyone to anything and without putting any limit on what a customer could ask for. The preamble to the new regulation says that, from the date it enters into force, the recommendation „ceases to produce legal effects”. Between the publication of the recommendation and the publication of the regulation, 412 days passed.

The second change concerns who still has to report. Omnibus I narrowed sustainability reporting to undertakings with a net turnover above EUR 450 million and more than 1,000 employees on average, and removed Article 29c of Directive 2013/34/EU, the one containing the standard for listed small and medium-sized undertakings. In Romania, the threshold of EUR 450 million leaves very few companies under mandatory reporting, so the practical effect of this regulation is felt almost entirely on the other side: among the Romanian suppliers of large groups in the Union.

The third change is one of the nature of the text. The 2025 recommendation could not be relied on against a customer; the regulation can, being directly applicable. And with Annex II, the discussion between supplier and customer moves off general ground, „send us your environmental data”, onto a closed list, with point and letter numbers, which can be set beside the questionnaire received, line by line.

Advantages and disadvantages

What it improves

  • The supplier has, for the first time, a closed list to rely on: 23 items, with a reference to the point and letter in the standard, not a general formula about proportionality.
  • An undertaking with at most 10 employees has a cap of its own, of 9 items, and does not have to calculate energy consumption, emissions, water or waste for its customers.
  • A contractual clause asking for more than the cap produces no effects, and the rest of the contract stays valid, so a refusal does not put the commercial relationship as a whole at risk.
  • Voluntary reporting requires no assurance, so the cost of an auditor does not come into it.
  • The standard is the same throughout the Union, so a supplier with customers in several States fills in the same structure only once.
  • Point 22 allows an undertaking to omit information that would be seriously prejudicial to its commercial position, trade secrets and classified information, provided it states that it has used the exemption.

What remains a problem

  • The cap works only for requests made for the purposes of sustainability reporting. The same data requested by a bank for a loan or for a due diligence obligation stay outside it.
  • The right to refuse and the non-binding nature of the contractual clause come from the directive, not from the regulation, so in Romania they depend on a transposition with a deadline of 19 March 2027.
  • The supplier has to work out for itself what cannot be requested: the list of disclosures left outside the cap is written nowhere, and is obtained by subtracting Annex II from the standard.
  • The threshold of 1,000 employees is calculated at the balance sheet date, as an average for the preceding financial year, so a company can move in and out of protection from one year to the next.
  • The templates and practical guidance sit with EFRAG, not in the regulation, so the application side rests on a document that can change without any legal act.
  • Annex II and the standard name the same things differently at several items, for instance „staff turnover rate” as against „employee replacement rate”, which makes setting them side by side harder.

Practical advice

  1. Prepare in good time a self-declaration with the average number of employees in the preceding financial year, at the balance sheet date. The customer relies on it in deciding whether you are a protected undertaking, and without it the discussion about the cap cannot begin.
  2. At the first sustainability questionnaire of 2027, set it beside Annex II and mark what goes beyond the 23 items. The annex gives, for each item, the point and letter in the standard, so the comparison is made without interpretation.
  3. Ask in writing for what purpose the data are requested. The cap protects only requests made for the customer’s sustainability reporting, and the answer tells you whether or not you have a right of refusal.
  4. Ask the customer to state, in writing, what goes beyond the standard. That is the customer’s obligation, not yours, and it is the only way in which a later refusal does not look like a lack of cooperation.
  5. If you have at most 10 employees, learn the 9 items that may be asked of you. Energy, emissions, water and waste are not among them.
  6. Collect the data once a year, over the same period as the financial statements, as point 18 requires. From the second year of reporting the standard also calls for the previous year’s figures, so the first collection spares you a later reconstruction.
  7. Check current contracts for clauses requiring unlimited sustainability data. After transposition such a clause produces no effects, but it is simpler to discuss it at renewal than to contest it when a specific request arrives.

Frequently asked questions

Is my company required to report under this standard?
No. The standard in Annex I is voluntary. Only the cap in Article 3 is binding, and that is addressed to the customer who has the reporting obligation. The supplier is the one protected by the cap, not the one bound by it.
From when can I use the standard?
From 24 September 2026, the date the regulation enters into force. The date of 1 January 2027 in Article 4 concerns only Article 3, that is, the cap.
What do I do if a customer asks for more than the 23 items?
You are entitled to refuse information going beyond the standard, where the request is made for the customer’s sustainability reporting. The customer, in turn, is obliged to tell you what goes beyond the standard and that you may refuse. In Romania, the right becomes fully applicable with the transposition of Directive (EU) 2026/470, which has a deadline of 19 March 2027.
Can a signed contract oblige me to give more?
No. The directive says that a contractual clause requiring information beyond the standard „shall not be binding”, without affecting the validity of the other clauses in the contract.
Does my bank fall under the cap when it asks me for environmental data?
No, if it asks for them for a loan or for another obligation of its own. The preamble to the regulation merely encourages banks, insurers and financial market participants to limit their requests to the information in Annex I.
Does anyone have to check my report?
No. The preamble says expressly that undertakings applying the standard are not required to seek assurance on the information reported.
What does „at most 10 employees” in Annex II mean?
It is the line that splits the cap in two. A supplier with at most 10 employees may be asked for 9 items, one with more than 10 employees for all 23. In the standard, the same points are marked „voluntary for undertakings with at most 10 employees”.
Can I omit information from those requested of me?
Yes, in the cases under point 22: information that would be seriously prejudicial to your commercial position, trade secrets, classified information. You have to state that you have used the exemption and reassess at each reporting date.

Editorial analysis

The regulation solves a real problem and solves it in the most useful form available: a closed list, with point numbers, that can be set beside a questionnaire and read line by line. Until now, a Romanian supplier receiving a table of several hundred rows from a large customer had nothing to invoke beyond the general idea of proportionality. Now it has 23 items and, if it has at most 10 employees, 9.

The weak part is not the content, but the calendar. The cap in Article 3 applies to financial years starting on 1 January 2027, but it does not come on its own: without the right of refusal and without the non-binding nature of the contractual clause, which sit in Directive (EU) 2026/470, the cap is a measurement with no scales. The transposition deadline for Articles 1, 2 and 3 of the directive is 19 March 2027, that is, exactly 11 weeks after 1 January 2027. A company whose financial year follows the calendar year therefore enters the first year covered by the cap with a right of refusal that, in the absence of a Romanian text, can be invoked only through the direct effect of the directive, against a private customer, which in practice does not happen. Closing the gap falls to the Ministry of Finance, which maintains the accounting regulations through which the directive is transposed.

The second observation emerges from comparing Annex II with the list of disclosures. Of the standard’s 20 disclosures, 9 stay entirely outside the cap, and among them are precisely the ones a large buyer asks for most insistently: convictions and fines for corruption and bribery, emission reduction targets and climate risks. The practical consequence is that those requests move elsewhere. Since the cap covers only collection carried out for sustainability reporting, a customer who needs them will ask for them invoking another purpose, for instance due diligence or internal compliance policy, and there the supplier has nothing to invoke. The preamble tacitly acknowledges the mechanism when it merely „encourages” banks and financial market participants to keep to the standard.

The third observation concerns the time left. The Commission met the deadline in the directive with 16 days to spare, adopting the regulation on 3 July 2026, but the text appeared only on 21 September 2026, 80 days later, an interval explained by the scrutiny of the Parliament and the Council over delegated acts and by translation into all the languages. For a company whose financial year ends on 31 December, the time left until the first year covered by the cap is 99 days from entry into force. Anyone who wants to have the 2026 energy, water and waste figures in January 2027 can no longer collect them retrospectively; either they have them or they do not.

What should be changed

  • The date on which the cap applies should be tied to transposition, not to the calendar. If Article 3 applied to the first financial year starting after the transposition deadline, the supplier would no longer face 11 weeks of a cap with no right of refusal in domestic law.
  • The list of disclosures left outside the cap should be written out expressly, alongside Annex II. Today the supplier has to deduce by subtraction what it can refuse; a second column or a mirror annex would turn an exercise in interpretation into reading.
  • The notification by which the customer states what goes beyond the standard should be required in writing and item by item. The current wording obliges the customer only to ensure that the supplier „is informed”, which can be exhausted by a general sentence at the end of a three-hundred-row questionnaire.
  • The digital reporting template should be published in the act, not left to EFRAG’s guidance. The directive requires the standard to specify, as far as possible, the structure of presentation; a single format would turn the answer into a file reusable with every customer, instead of a manual exercise for each one.
  • The wording in Annex II should be aligned word for word with that in the standard. The same item appears as „staff turnover rate” in the annex and „employee replacement rate” in point 58; the reference is made by number, so nothing breaks, but anyone setting the two lists side by side loses time at every mismatch.
  • The limit should be extended, in binding form, to requests from banks and financial market participants. For as long as it remains encouragement in the preamble, the most frequent questionnaire a small company in Romania receives, the one from its bank, stays unlimited, and the cap protects precisely the relationship in which the supplier already had more bargaining power.

Original text of the legal act

The text below is reproduced in Romanian, the official form of publication.

The full text, as published in the Official Gazette of Romania

Official Journal of the European Union, L series, 2026/1560 of 21 September 2026 34 pages PDF, 1.1 MB

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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific situations, consult a licensed attorney or tax advisor.