Consultation: EU limited assurance standard for sustainability reporting

On 12 November 2026, the European Commission launched a public consultation on an EU limited assurance standard for sustainability reporting. The consultation closes on 18 January 2027.

The European Commission’s objective is to adopt binding standards for the assurance of sustainability reports in accordance with the Accounting Directive (Directive 2013/34/EU), providing limited assurance, as a delegated act by 1 July 2027 at the latest. The standards shall supplement the Audit Directive (Directive 2006/43/EC) “in order to provide for limited assurance standards setting out the procedures that the auditor(s) and the audit firm(s) shall perform in order to draw his, her or its conclusions on the assurance of sustainability reporting, including engagement planning, risk consideration and response to risks and type of conclusions to be included in the assurance report on sustainability reporting, or, where relevant, in the audit report”.

The new assurance standard is based on recommendations issued by the CEAOB (Committee of European Auditing Oversight Bodies) in September 2026. These recommendations, in turn, were based on the ISSA 5000 standard, with EU-specific carve-outs and add-ons. One of the consultation questions also concerns the effective date of the new standard, with the CEAOB recommending application for financial years beginning on or after 15 December 2027.