European companies are choosing to continue sustainability reporting despite the removal of mandatory requirements under the EU Omnibus simplification package. This is according to the osapiens study "Beyond Compliance: Sustainability Reporting After the Omnibus".
The research shows that 90% of companies falling outside the scope of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) intend to maintain or even expand their reporting activities. A total of 86% of these "descoped" companies expect to continue reporting in line with CSRD requirements.
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Following the EU Omnibus I simplification package, several companies are no longer subject to immediate formal reporting obligations, including under the CSRD. While the Omnibus package changes who must report, it does not alter who must manage sustainability risks. The findings indicate that sustainability reporting is increasingly embedded in how organisations manage risk, allocate capital and communicate with investors, customers and partners.
Across all respondents, 88.9% expect to increase investment in tools and automation for sustainability reporting over the next 12 months. Meanwhile, 90% state that sustainability reporting is already partially or fully integrated with financial reporting processes.
Sustainability data is actively used in high-impact decision-making, including operational and resource planning (52.8%), innovation and process design (47.7%), financial planning and investment decisions (38.1%), and supply chain risk analysis (38.1%). Nearly half (49.2%) cite improved insight into climate, supply chain and operational risks as the main benefit of reporting. Other frequently mentioned advantages include increased investor confidence through auditable information (43.8%), meeting reporting and audit requirements from customers and partners (43.8%), and improved alignment between finance and sustainability in decision-making (43.3%).
However, the study identifies a structural tension. While 90% of descoped organisations intend to continue reporting, 84.5% expect reduced regulatory pressure to result in fewer internal resources over time. Key internal barriers include budget constraints (43%), fragmented data systems (40.7%), weak technological integration (31%) and unclear internal responsibilities (29.1%).
The study describes this as a "sustainability paradox": strong strategic recognition of reporting's value combined with declining resource support. The findings suggest that automation and centralised data management will be critical to maintaining reporting quality within constrained resources, particularly as voluntary reporting may increase fragmentation across frameworks such as VSME, CCF, GRI and ISSB.
Andreas Rasche, Professor of Business in Society at Copenhagen Business School, said: "The results show a clear preference for continuity in reporting among larger companies that have been exempted under Omnibus I. Voluntary reporting and beyond-compliance strategies are therefore coming clearly to the forefront of the future sustainability agenda."
Alberto Zamora, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of osapiens, added: "In recent years, the regulatory direction was largely one-way traffic: more requirements and more companies within scope. The Omnibus package changes that. However, our data shows that companies are not scaling back when the obligation falls away. They recognise that reporting is no longer merely a compliance exercise, but a way to understand risks, allocate capital and grow sustainably."
The survey was conducted between December 2025 and January 2026 among 403 senior decision-makers from companies with more than 1,000 employees across the UK, DACH, Benelux and France.
More information:
osapiens
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