An in-scope undertaking must prepare its management report in the electronic reporting format of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/815 and mark up its sustainability reporting, but mark-up is not required until the tagging rules are adopted.
The requirement, in our words
Undertakings within Article 19a, and parents within Article 29a, must produce the relevant (individual or consolidated) management report in the XHTML format of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/815, Article 3 and must tag their sustainability reporting, including the Taxonomy Article 8 disclosures, in that format. Until the tagging rules for sustainability information are adopted in that Delegated Regulation, they are not obliged to mark up the sustainability reporting.
Why it matters
The provision separates the format from the tagging. The report must be in the specified electronic format now, but the sustainability mark-up waits for the delegated rules. That distinction matters to a reporting team that has been told it must tag in the first year: the obligation to tag is conditional, and the condition is the adoption of the rules.
What changed
The old Article 29d required the single electronic reporting format and mark-up. The replacement keeps the format, makes the mark-up conditional on the tagging rules, and applies the same rule to individual and consolidated reports.
What to do
- Publish the management report in the XHTML format required by the delegated regulation.
- Track the adoption of the sustainability tagging rules and record the first year they apply.
- Do not claim that mark-up is optional after the rules are adopted; the condition is the adoption, not the company's choice.
Evidence to have ready
| Category | Artefact |
|---|---|
| Digital reporting | Published management report file in XHTML with validation output |
| Digital reporting | Tracker of the status of the sustainability taxonomy in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/815 and the first year tagging becomes mandatory |
| Digital reporting | Tagging readiness plan with the ESRS digital taxonomy version to be used |
Common failures
- Management report published as PDF only
- Assumption that no electronic format applies at all because tagging is deferred
Dates
Applies to financial years starting on or after 1 January 2027. The directive does not state the date the tagging rules will be adopted.
The question to test
Is the report in the required electronic format, and can you show the date the tagging rules were adopted or that they were not yet adopted?
Cross-references
A2-5 Value chain transition · A2-15 Collective responsibility
Source
Article 2(9), replacing Article 29d of Directive 2013/34/EU; OJ L 2026/470, 26 February 2026; https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32026L0470. Our statement of the duty, read from the Official Journal text and the held control record, not the instrument verbatim.
Not legal advice; does not certify. A reading of the duty and the evidence commonly sampled, not a substitute for the Official Journal text, the national transposing measure or your auditor's judgement.