Beyond Omnibus & Co.: The Substantive Challenges Of Non‑Financial Reporting In Practice

The current debate on non‑financial reporting is strongly shaped by regulatory adjustments. In particular, the European Union (EU) Omnibus package (effective 18 March 2026) has led many companies to expect that sustainability reporting will become easier in the future. In practice, however, it becomes apparent that challenges do not arise from regulation itself in isolation, but are largely driven by issues related to operational implementation.

One major obstacle is the availability of reliable data. This becomes evident, for example, in the application of the EU Taxonomy. For certain activities, a vulnerability or climate risk assessment is required in order for an activity to be classified as taxonomy‑eligible at all. These assessments are methodologically demanding, and go far beyond traditional reporting processes, especially as the practical approach to conducting such assessments has so far only been specified to a limited extent.