Implementing and delegated acts - Taxonomy Regulation

The Taxonomy Regulation gives the Commission the power to adopt delegated and implementing acts to specify what competent authorities and market participants need to do to comply with the obligations laid down in the regulation.

The Taxonomy Regulation tasks the Commission with establishing the actual list of environmentally sustainable activities by defining technical screening criteria for each environmental objective through delegated acts.

The Commission launched an educational and user-friendly website – the EU taxonomy navigator - offering a series of online tools to help users better understand what the EU taxonomy is in a simple and practical manner, which activities/sectors and technical screening criteria are covered, and how the reporting obligations work in practice.

Environmental Delegated Act

On 27 June 2023, the Commission adopted a Taxonomy Environmental Delegated Act, including a new set of EU taxonomy criteria for economic activities making a substantial contribution to one or more of the non-climate environmental objectives, namely: sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources, transition to a circular economy, pollution prevention and control and protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems. The Commission has also adopted amendments to the Taxonomy Disclosures Delegated Act and to the Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act, covering the environmental objectives of climate change mitigation and adaptation. The criteria are informed to a very large extent by the recommendations of the Platform on Sustainable Finance, published in March and November 2022.

The adopted texts were published in the Official Journal of the EU on 21 November 2023 and will apply as of January 2024.

• Text of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2486 of 27 June 2023 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council by establishing the technical screening criteria for determining the conditions under which an economic activity qualifies as contributing substantially to the sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources, to the transition to a circular economy, to pollution prevention and control, or to the protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems and for determining whether that economic activity causes no significant harm to any of the other environmental objectives and amending Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2178 as regards specific public disclosures for those economic activities
• Text of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2485 of 27 June 2023 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2139 establishing additional technical screening criteria for determining the conditions under which certain economic activities qualify as contributing substantially to climate change mitigation or climate change adaptation and for determining whether those activities cause no significant harm to any of the other environmental objectivesText amending the Climate Delegated Act
• Commission Staff Working Document accompanying the Environmental and Climate Delegated Acts
• Timeline of the delegated acts and stakeholder's feedback

Complementary Climate Delegated Act

On 15 July 2022, the Complementary Climate Delegated Act was published in the Official Journal. It includes, under strict conditions, specific nuclear and gas energy activities in the list of economic activities covered by the EU taxonomy. The delegated act applies as of January 2023. The criteria for the specific gas and nuclear activities are in line with EU climate and environmental objectives and will help accelerate the shift from solid or liquid fossil fuels, including coal, towards a climate-neutral future.

• Press release
• Frequently asked questions
• Text of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/1214 of 9 March 2022 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2139 as regards economic activities in certain energy sectors and Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2178 as regards specific public disclosures for those economic activities
• Factsheet: EU taxonomy accelerating sustainable investments

Assessment of nuclear energy

Following the political agreement on the Taxonomy Regulation between co-legislators, the Commission launched in 2020 in-depth work to assess whether or not to include nuclear energy in the EU taxonomy of environmentally sustainable activities. As a first step, the Joint Research Centre – the in-house science and knowledge service of the Commission – drafted a technical report on the ‘do no significant harm’ aspects of nuclear energy. This publication is a Science for Policy report by the JRC, which aims to provide evidence-based scientific support to the European policymaking process. The scientific report does not imply a policy position of the European Commission. This report has been reviewed by two sets of experts, the Group of Experts on radiation protection and waste management under Article 31 of the Euratom Treaty, as well as the Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks on environmental impacts. Their reviews are available below. The reports and these reviews will inform the Commission’s decision making.

• SCHEER review of the JRC report on technical assessment of nuclear energy with respect to the ‘do no significant harm’ criteria of Regulation (EU) 2020/852
• Opinion of the Group of Experts referred to in Article 31 of the Euratom Treaty on Joint Research Centre’s report technical assessment of nuclear energy with respect to ‘do no significant harm’ criteria of Regulation (EU) 2020/852

Disclosures Delegated Act

On 10 December 2021, the Delegated Act supplementing Article 8 of the Taxonomy Regulation was published in the Official Journal and has been applicable since 1 January 2022. The delegated act specifies the content and presentation of information to be disclosed by undertakings subject to Article 19a or 29a of Directive 2013/34/EU (‘Accounting Directive’) concerning environmentally sustainable economic activities, and specifying the methodology to comply with that disclosure obligation.

• Press release
• Text of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2178 of 6 July 2021 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2020/852 by specifying the content and presentation of information to be disclosed by undertakings subject to Articles 19a or 29a of Directive 2013/34/EU concerning environmentally sustainable economic activities, and specifying the methodology to comply with that disclosure obligation. The delegated act was accompanied by 11 annexes
• Staff working document accompanying the Delegated Regulation supplementing Regulation (EU) 2020/852 by specifying the content and presentation of information to be disclosed by undertakings subject to Article 19a or 29a of Directive 2013/34/EU concerning environmentally sustainable economic activities, and specifying the methodology to comply with that disclosure obligation
• Frequently asked questions: What is the EU taxonomy Article 8 delegated act and how will it work in practice?

Climate Delegated Act

On 9 December 2021, a first delegated act on sustainable activities for climate change mitigation and adaptation objectives of the EU Taxonomy (“Climate Delegated Act”) was published in the Official Journal. The delegated act has been applicable since 1 January 2022.

• Text of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2139 of 4 June 2021 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2020/852 by establishing the technical screening criteria for determining the conditions under which an economic activity qualifies as contributing substantially to climate change mitigation or climate change adaptation and for determining whether that economic activity causes no significant harm to any of the other environmental objectives
• Impact assessment accompanying the EU Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act
• Summary of the impact assessment accompanying the EU Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act
• Opinion of the Regulatory Scrutiny Board on the impact assessment accompanying the EU Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act
• Frequently asked questions on the EU Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act
• Factsheet: How does the EU Taxonomy fit within the sustainable finance framework?
• Frequently asked questions: What is the EU Taxonomy and how will it work in practice?
• Summary of the public feedback on the draft Delegated Act supplementing Regulation (EU) 2020/852 published on 20 November 2020
• Press release on the draft delegated act - 20 November 2020
• Text and annexes of the draft delegated act published on 20 November 2020
• Received feedback on the draft delegated act published on 20 November 2020

To make it easier to use the EU Taxonomy, the Commission launched an IT tool on the EU taxonomy for sustainable activities (the EU Taxonomy Compass). The tool allows users to navigate easily through the contents of the Climate Delegated Act.

EU taxonomy for sustainable activities

Sustainable finance