PURPOSE: to harmonise the disclosure requirements for the public information that should be accessible through the European Single Access Point (ESAP).
LEGISLATIVE ACT: Regulation (EU) 2023/2869 of the European Parliament and of the Council amending certain Regulations as regards the establishment and functioning of the European single access point.
CONTENT: easy and structured access to data, including to information provided on a voluntary basis, is important to enable decision makers in the economy and society to make sound decisions that serve the efficient functioning of the market. Such access is also necessary in order to increase opportunities for the growth and visibility of, and innovation by, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
It is essential that information related to the sustainability and social governance of businesses is easily accessible to investors so that they are better informed when making decisions about investments. For those purposes, public access to financial, non-financial and environmental-, social- and governance-related information about natural or legal persons (entities) that are themselves required to make such information public, or that publicly disclose such information to a collection body on a voluntary basis, needs to be improved.
The European Single Access Point (ESAP) is established in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2023/2859 of the European Parliament and of the Council in order to provide the public with easy centralised access to information about entities and their products that is of relevance to financial services, capital markets and sustainability, which authorities and entities are required to publish pursuant to Union legislative acts in those fields.
Such publication should be carried out in accordance with a file once principle and without entailing any additional disclosure requirements beyond those specified by law. In addition, any entity governed by the law of a Member State should be able to submit to a collection body, on a voluntary basis, information about its economic activities that is of relevance to financial services or capital markets, or that concerns sustainability, with a view to making that information accessible on ESAP in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2023/2859.
To enable ESAP to operate, this Regulation amends a number of regulations in the field of financial services, capital markets and sustainability.
Amendments have been made to the Regulations concerned in particular as regards the dates on which ESAP information must be made available (from 10 July 2026, 10 January 2028 or 10 January 2030 as appropriate, after the date of entry into force of the amending Regulation). The amendments also specify the requirements that the information must meet.
ENTRY INTO FORCE: 9.1.2024.