The European Commission has launched a four-week Call for Feedback on proposals set out in a draft delegated act and detailed annexes for a new set of EU Taxonomy technical screening criteria (TSC) for economic activities making a substantial contribution to one or more of the following four remaining environmental objectives under the Taxonomy:
- Sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources;
- Transition to a circular economy;
- Pollution prevention and control; and
- Protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems.
The European Commission is also consulting on proposed targeted amendments to the Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act and on the Taxonomy Disclosures Delegated Act.
Prior to the proposals in the Call for Feedback, criteria under the Taxonomy only related to climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation.
EU Taxonomy Navigator
The European Commission has also published three new tools to support taxonomy implementation as follows:
- EU Taxonomy Compass: A visual representation of sectors, activities and criteria included in the EU Taxonomy aiming to make the contents of the EU Taxonomy easier to access for a variety of users.
- EU Taxonomy Calculator: which is a step by step guide on reporting obligations which aims to help users understand their reporting obligations under the Disclosures Delegated Act under Article 8 of the Taxonomy Regulation.
- FAQs repository: This is an overview of questions and answers of the EU Taxonomy and its delegated acts.
Next steps
Feedback to the short four-week consultation can be submitted until 3 May 2023. The Commission plans to publish the TSC for the four remaining environmental objectives on 30 June 2023.
Under the proposals, non-financial undertakings will be required to report taxonomy eligibility for the four new environmental objectives from 1 January 2024 and taxonomy alignment from 1 January 2025. Financial undertakings will have to report taxonomy eligibility for the new environmental objectives from 1 January 2024 and taxonomy alignment from 1 January 2026.
Authored by Rita Hunter, Julia Cripps and Melanie Johnson.
