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05/03/2019 - European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis welcomes the European Reporting Lab@EFRAG's role in supporting the Action Plan on Sustainable Finance

​The European Reporting Lab@EFRAG announces plans for a public consultation on its future work agenda at a high-level conference in Brussels.


The newly-formed European Reporting Lab@EFRAG (European Lab) held a high-level conference titled​ Fostering Innovation in Corporate Reporting today in Brussels.

Speaking at the event, European Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis stated:

"To accurately measure climate and other sustainability risks, companies and investors need consistent and comparable data. Thanks to the Non-Financial Reporting Directive, EU companies already have a head-start, but we need to go further. This is why the Commission asked EFRAG to launch the European Lab, as part of our Action Plan on Sustainable Finance. It will help identify and spread best reporting practices, which is an important step in creating a more sustainable financial sector."

In addition to the Vice-President's keynote speech, the European Lab event saw two lively panel discussions and interventions from a range of high-profile speakers. Richard Howitt, International Integrated Reporting Council CEO and former MEP set the scene for the panel discussions.

The first panel discussion looked at how to overcome challenges in corporate reporting and was moderated by Nancy Kamp-Roelands, European Lab Steering Group (European Lab SG) member. The second panel addressed innovation in corporate reporting and was moderated by Alain Deckers, European Commission DG FISMA and European Lab SG Vice-Chair.

Speaking at the conference, EFRAG Board President and European Lab SG Chair, Jean-Paul Gauzès, noted that:

"The speakers at today's event gave a clear message that corporate reporting must evolve to meet the changing needs of stakeholders, but also highlighted the challenges faced by practitioners. They confirmed the potential of the European Lab to help in meeting the challenges by sharing good practices and innovation in corporate reporting.

The European Lab has already started working on climate-related reporting. Later this year we will launch a public consultation on our future agenda. Corporate reporting is a wide field and this is the opportunity for the European community to let us know their priorities."

EC Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis' keynote speech

Press release