However, the world changed faster than the directive could be completed. During 2025, the Sustainability Reporting Directive began to be relaxed at the EU negotiating tables. In the end, CSRD's mandatory reporting obligations apply to only a fraction of Finnish companies instead of the original plan. At the same time, other responsibility-related obligations were reduced to apply mainly to large companies.
However, with a fast schedule, the biggest changes were abandoned, and responsibility has appeared in companies as a capacity for change to respond to changing guidelines. Many larger companies had already begun to prepare for sustainability reporting. However, the changes do not mean that responsibility has lost its meaning. On the contrary - new opportunities for companies to develop their responsibility work came to the field of responsibility.
In 2025, EFRAG published the voluntary reporting standard for SMEs (VSME). It is a lighter, but more structured way to express corporate responsibility. Large companies especially those for which CSRD is still mandatory, require different things from companies in supply chains. For smaller companies, VSME is an easier but sufficient way to meet the demands.
VSME reporting consists of two parts: the basic part and the extended part. The basic part deals with things that are already familiar to many companies energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, staffing and anti-bribery. For the VSME report, the company must at least perform a materiality analysis, but it is also useful to perform a double materiality analysis.
In practice, double materiality analysis means that the company looks at sustainability issues from both an internal and an external perspective. The internal perspective, i.e. the materiality of the impacts, examines the effects of the company's operations on people, the environment and society. The external perspective, i.e. financial materiality, examines the risks and opportunities related to sustainability issues for the company's operations and financial position.
Previously, EU taxonomy also appeared to be mandatory for some companies, especially as part of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. Here too, regulation has become lighter, but it is good to be aware of the importance of EU taxonomy at a general level, as it remains an important reference framework in the financial world. It is a classification list drawn up by the EU, because of which investors and financers categorize funding for those activities that have real benefits for the climate and the environment.
The target group of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CSDDD) directive also declined significantly. It obliges large companies to pay attention to human rights principles throughout their value chain. The directive also applies to the environmental impact of a company, but the main focus is on human rights.
At the end of the VATUPASSI project, I am sure that the responsibility work is worth continuing in the companies. When conducting responsibility situation surveys with companies, as well as with responsibility training and various sparrings, the idea has become clearer that responsibility work is also strongly involved in business development. It is not in any way a separate part of the everyday life of companies, but a part of the whole.
At the beginning of the project, we talked about the fact that sustainability is a competitive advantage for companies. However, responsibility is not just a competitive advantage; it is often a necessity. Situations in which it is encountered often come unexpectedly: in financing negotiations, investment applications or, for example, when participating in competitive bidding. Therefore, it is worth at least mapping the situation of responsibility in the company and thinking through it what would be the right path to start or continue the work that has already been started.
After all, we cannot predict what the state of responsibility legislation will be like in the next two years.
Sources:
Corporate sustainability reporting - Finance - European Commission (Retrieved 26.1.2026)
EU:n vastuullisuussääntely vaikuttaa myös pieniin yrityksiin - Vastuullisuusvalmennus (Small businesses are also affected by the EU's liability regulation - Responsibility training, only in Finnish)
Author:
Anne-Mari Kukkola, Master of Business Administration YAMK (Financial Management),
Business Specialist, VATUPASSI Responsible Future Project
Nivala-Haapajärvi Region NIHAK ry
Photo: Hanna Perkkiö
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