Article 26a
Assurance standards for sustainability reporting
1.
Member States shall require statutory auditors and audit firms to carry out the assurance of sustainability reporting in compliance with the assurance standards adopted by the Commission in accordance with paragraph 3.
2.
Member States may apply national assurance standards, procedures or requirements as long as the Commission has not adopted an assurance standard covering the same subject matter.
Member States shall communicate the national assurance standards, procedures or requirements to the Commission at least three months before their entry into force.
3.
The Commission shall, no later than 1 October 2026, adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 48a in order to supplement this Directive in order to provide for limited assurance standards setting out the procedures that the auditor(s) and the audit firm(s) shall perform in order to draw his, her or its conclusions on the assurance of sustainability reporting, including engagement planning, risk consideration and response to risks and type of conclusions to be included in the assurance report on sustainability reporting, or, where relevant, in the audit report.
The Commission shall, no later than 1 October 2028, adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 48a in order to supplement this Directive in order to provide for reasonable assurance standards, following an assessment to determine if reasonable assurance is feasible for auditors and for undertakings. Taking into account the results of that assessment and if therefore appropriate, those delegated acts shall specify the date from which the opinion referred to in point (aa) of the second subparagraph of Article 34(1) is to be based on a reasonable assurance engagement that is based on those reasonable assurance standards.
The Commission may adopt the assurance standards referred to in the first and second subparagraphs only if they:
(a)
have been developed with proper due process, public oversight and transparency;
(b)
contribute a high level of credibility and quality to the annual or consolidated sustainability reporting; and
(c)
are conducive to the Union public good.