One-year optional ESEF postponement

During the trilogue meetings on the capital markets recovery package proposal (prospectus file) in December 2020, the European Parliament and the Council agreed to include in the package an amendment to Directive 2004/109/EC (Transparency Directive) allowing for a 1-year postponement of the obligation for listed companies to draw up and publish their annual financial reports in accordance with the European single electronic format (ESEF). The ESEF postponement will be adopted as a supplementary measure to help the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Please find here the Commission’s press release on this issue.

Article 4(7) of the Transparency Directive will be amended in order to grant Member States the option to allow their issuers to apply the ESEF requirements starting from 1 January 2022, provided that they notify the European Commission of their duly motivated intention to do so. Issuers who wish to publish their annual financial reports in ESEF in 2021 will still be able to proceed. If issuers choose to publish their annual financial reports in ESEF in 2021, they will have to comply with all the relevant requirements of the Transparency Directive, including the audit of financial statements (see in particular Commission interpretative Communication on the preparation, audit and publication of the financial statements included in the ESEF-annual financial reports).

List of Member States opting for a 1-year ESEF postponement

Belgium

• Date of notification: 29 January 2021

Bulgaria

• Date of notification: 27 January 2021

Croatia

• Date of notification: 5 February 2021

Cyprus

• Date of notification: 28 January 2021

Denmark

• Date of notification: 22 February 2021

Estonia

• Date of notification: 4 March 2021

Finland

• Date of notification: 18 March 2021

France

• Date of notification: 5 February 2021

Greece

• Date of notification: 29 January 2021

Hungary

• Date of notification: 16 February 2021

Ireland

• Date of notification: 27 January 2021

Italy

• Date of notification: 2 March 2021

Latvia

• Date of notification: 12 March 2021

Lithuania

• Date of notification: 25 January 2021

Luxembourg

• Date of notification: 10 February 2021

Malta

• Date of notification: 3 February 2021

Netherlands

• Date of notification: 26 January 2021

Poland

• Date of notification: 15 March 2021

Portugal

• Date of notification: 27 January 2021

Romania

• Date of notification: 18 February 2021

Slovakia

• Date of notification: 10 February 2021

Spain

• Date of notification: 12 February 2021

Sweden

• Date of notification: 11 March 2021