There are circumstances in which undertakings should, subject to assurance, be permitted to omit certain information when applying sustainability reporting requirements. Such circumstances should be developed and clarified. First, in certain cases the disclosure of sustainability information could seriously prejudice the commercial position of an undertaking. In such cases, the undertaking should be allowed to omit such information, provided that specific conditions for the omission are met to ensure that such cases remain exceptional and that the interests of the users of reported sustainability information are also adequately protected. In that context, the commercial position of the reporting undertaking is not seriously prejudiced by the fact that third-country undertakings are not required to report the same information. Second, undertakings should be able to omit information corresponding to intellectual capital, intellectual property, know-how, technological information or the results of innovation that would qualify as a trade secret as defined in Directive (EU) 2016/943 of the European Parliament and of the Council. Third, undertakings should be able to omit classified information. Finally, there might be information that should be kept confidential for reasons not relating to commercial prejudice, trade secrecy or classification. In particular, undertakings should be free to omit information that is to be protected from unauthorised access or disclosure pursuant to other Union legal acts or national law. Moreover, the sustainability reporting requirements should not oblige undertakings to disclose information which would be prejudicial to the privacy of natural persons or to the security of natural or legal persons. That is especially important in the current geopolitical context. Defence undertakings, in particular, need to have discretion to withhold sensitive information the disclosure of which could be prejudicial to their own security or to that of other legal persons, including Member States.
Text as published in the Official Journal, reproduced verbatim (including any typographical quirks of the source). For the authentic version, see EUR-Lex.
