European Corporate Reporting Lab @ EFRAG

The European Corporate Reporting Lab @ EFRAG (European Lab) was established by EFRAG, following the call by the European Commission in its March 2018 Action Plan on Financing Sustainable Growth. The European Lab serves the European public interest and its objective is to stimulate innovation in the field of corporate reporting in Europe by identifying and sharing good reporting practices through:

• Facilitating dialogue between reporting companies, users and other relevant stakeholders and organisations; and

• Documenting the content and outcomes of this dialogue in reports and other means, for making them available in the public domain.

European Lab Steering Group

The European Lab has a multi-stakeholder Steering Group (the European Lab SG) and under its direction, EFRAG establishes project task forces for specific projects (European Lab PTFs).
European Lab SG composition

The European Lab SG is responsible for setting the agenda of the European Lab; appointing the members of the European Lab PTFs; monitoring project implementation; promoting outputs of the European Lab and mobilising networks; giving direction on external communication; and reviewing the progress of the European Lab activities.
European Lab SG Terms of Reference

European Lab PTFs

The European Lab PTFs are responsible for the operation of the projects of the European Lab, including planning, specific issues selection, conducting stakeholder consultative outreach activities, and the project reports and other deliverables, as decided by the PTFs. The PTFs operate under the European Lab PTFs Operating Guidelines.

Outreach

The activities of the PTFs may include public consultation such as expert meetings, seminars, round table discussions, interviews, surveys and other activities to facilitate engagement and exchange with other stakeholders. The European Lab PTFs decide on the form of consultation and outreaches relevant and appropriate for the public.

Future agenda of the European Lab

On 18 July 2019 a public consultation was launched on the European Lab future agenda, requesting input to be provided by 30 September 2019. The consultation proposes future project topics and seeks views on their prioritisation. It also seeks input on any possible alternative project that would be more important and urgent for the European Lab to undertake than the projects proposed.
Future agenda consultation document

Roundtable event
A roundtable event will be hosted by EFRAG on 10 September 2019, for stakeholders to provide input and exchange views with European Lab SG members on the future agenda of the European Lab.

​​Invitation for roundtable event

Climate-related reporting project 

The first project of the European Lab, currently in progress, is on climate-related reporting.

The members of the European Lab PTF on Climate-related Reporting (PTF -CRR) were appointed by the European Lab SG in February 2019.
PTF on Climate-related Reporting composition

The project is assessing the current state of play for climate-related reporting by European companies, and the current and potential use of climate-related information by investors and other users. The primary focus is on the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations with consideration of other reporting frameworks as appropriate, while also taking account of the European Commission's non-binding guidelines on non-financial reporting issued in July 2017, and the new guidelines on reporting climate-related information issued in June 2019.

Dialogue on climate-related reporting
The PTF-CRR is planning a dialogue with interested stakeholders during September and October 2019, with a view to get practical insights on good reporting practices to be included in a document on climate-related reporting to be issued in Q4 2019. The dialogue will involve individual interviews, group interviews and workshops. An invitation was published for this purpose on 19 July 2019, for expressions of interest from practitioners with experience and insights in either reporting or using climate-related information. The deadline for submission of expressions of interest is 17 September 2019.
Call for participation in dialogue on climate-related reporting

Conference on Fostering Innovation in Corporate Reporting 

To mark the launch of the European Lab, a high-level conference on Fostering Innovation in Corporate Reporting took place in the afternoon of 5 March 2019 in Brussels. For more information, including a summary report and audio-visual materials, see the related meeting page.