18th July 2025
The Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Peter Burke, has signed a Statutory Instrument to give legal effect in Ireland to the EU’s “Stop the Clock” Directive on Corporate Sustainability Reporting. These Regulations will provide much-needed legal certainty to Irish business, and will ensure that the original Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) will not apply to so-called Wave 2 and Wave 3 companies for a further two years respectively, while the European Commission’s Omnibus proposal is being negotiated and agreed.
Minister Burke remains strongly supportive of the Simplification and Burden Reduction agenda at EU level, which has led the Commission to introduce a number of Omnibus Directives – these are Directives which propose to simplify multiple regulatory regimes through one combined legislative instrument.
In late February, the European Commission announced a number of changes to the scope and timing of both the CSRD and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) requirements for certain categories of companies, as part of the Commission’s First Omnibus Directive on Sustainability.
The proposals by the Commission will remove approximately 80% of companies from the scope of CSRD, focusing the sustainability reporting obligations on the largest companies which are more likely to have the biggest impacts on people and the environment. For large companies, who are the main category currently within scope of CSRD, the Omnibus proposal would restrict the application of the requirements to only those companies having 1,000 employees, as opposed to 250 employees under the current law. The proposed changes will also ensure that sustainability reporting requirements on large companies do not burden smaller companies in their value chains.
Further, the CSRD aspect of the “Stop the Clock” Directive, which is being transposed into Irish law in this Statutory Instrument, will also postpone by two years the reporting requirements for companies currently in the scope of the original CSRD and which would have been required to report for the first time in 2026 or 2027.
The Regulations also make some technical clarifications to the existing Irish legislation governing CSRD, to further clarify and reduce the scope of companies covered. These Regulations will thereby deliver legal certainty for business at all levels in Ireland.
Minister Burke said:
“I ensured that Ireland transposed the original CSRD Directive, on time, in July of last year, and Ireland was one of a small number of Member States to achieve this by the required deadline. I have also supported the European Commission’s simplification agenda, and in particular I have supported the early adoption of the Stop the Clock Directive, to give businesses in Ireland the legal certainty that they need, at the earliest opportunity.
The Stop the Clock Directive moved at a very fast pace at EU level. It was initially proposed at the end of February, and was adopted by Member States one month later, at the end of March. It was approved by the European Parliament with a massive majority. I am very happy that it is now becoming law in Ireland in early July, and that Irish companies will have the certainty that they need at this point.
I have said before that, while the core principle of the EU’s original corporate sustainability reporting regime was well-founded, in the context of the EU’s Green Deal, I recognise that the level of administrative burden associated with the original CSRD was excessive, both for large companies and especially for small and medium companies.
I continue to strongly support the simplification and burden reduction agenda at European level, to maximise the competitiveness of businesses in Ireland and in the EU, in the evolving global trading environment. These proposed changes will significantly help enterprise in Ireland, and most of all our SMEs.”
ENDS
Notes for Editors
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (EU) 2022/2464 (CSRD) was the EU’s response to the global reframing of company reporting to include environmental, social and governance matters. It entered into force in January 2023 and arises from the European Green Deal and the EU Action Plan for Financing Sustainable Growth. The aim of the CSRD was to harmonise the EU rules for sustainability reporting by companies and to put this on the same footing as financial reporting, giving investors and other stakeholders access to information to assess investment risks arising from climate change and other sustainability issues.
The CSRD was transposed, on time, in Ireland on 5 July 2024 by S.I. No. 336/2024 - European Union (Corporate Sustainability Reporting) Regulations 2024. A small number of technical clarificatory amendments were required, and the Minister signed a short amending instrument on 1 October 2024, S.I. 498/2024.
The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (EU) 2024/1760 (CSDDD) places legal obligations on companies within scope to address the adverse environmental and human rights impacts arising from their operations. Companies must conduct risk-based human rights and environmental due diligence to identify actual or potential adverse impacts and prevent / mitigate / minimise the extent of such impacts. Companies are also required to adopt a climate transition plan.
The Stop the Clock Directive (Directive EU 2025/794) was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 14 April 2025. It postpones by two years the entry into scope of CSRD reporting requirements for so-called Wave 2 and Wave 3 companies, for two years respectively, to 2027 and 2028, while negotiations are progressing at EU level to agree substantive changes to the scope of CSRD and CSDDD, under the main Omnibus proposal, which is expected to be agreed by end 2025. The Stop the Clock Directive has a required transposition date by Member States of 31 December 2025.
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