The European Commission (EC) plans to adopt a directive on non-financial reporting tomorrow in line with its recent amendments to the EU accounting directives.
The directive, which will be adopted by the College of Commissioners tomorrow, comes a week after the EC, European Parliament and the Council of the European Union agreed on toughen disclosure requirements for companies in extractive industry companies across Europe and their subsidiaries around the world.
According to a leaked final version of the EC directive seen by The Accountant, certain large companies would have to include a disclosure statement called "fair review" in their annual reports.
The EC stated companies would have to include "information relating to at least environmental, social, and employee-related matters, respect of human rights, anti-corruption and bribery aspects".
The final directive will apply to companies whose average number of employees exceeds 500, and exceeds either a balance sheet total of €20m or a net turnover of €40m. This proposed threshold doubles the current limit of 250 employees regulated in the accounting directives as a way to avoid undue administrative burdens.
The EC states the current approach to the disclosure of non-financial information in the accounting directives "has not been sufficiently effective".
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By GlobalData"Clearer requirements and stronger focus on topical issues important for the company’s long-term success are necessary," the EC stated.
As in a previous draft version of the directive leaked to The Accountant in December 2012, the EC maintains compulsory disclosures related to companies’ diversity policy. Such disclosure of information would include aspects such as age, gender, nationality, education and professional background.
The final version of the updated directive is due to be issued tomorrow (Tuesday 16 April 2013).
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