Harmonisation and Member State Regulatory Autonomy in EU Sustainability Reporting Law: Gold-Plating Under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and Its Implementation in Finland
(2026) JAEM03 20261Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract
- Corporate sustainability reporting has become a central instrument in the European Union’s (EU) attempt to improve market transparency and support the objectives of the European Green Deal. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) expanded the scope and content of sustainability reporting and introduced detailed European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). The CSRD raises questions concerning the relationship between EU harmonisation and national discretion, particularly after the Omnibus I Directive (Omnibus I) narrowed the personal scope of mandatory reporting to reduce administrative burdens for undertakings.
This thesis examines the compatibility of national gold-plating in sustainability reporting with EU... (More) - Corporate sustainability reporting has become a central instrument in the European Union’s (EU) attempt to improve market transparency and support the objectives of the European Green Deal. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) expanded the scope and content of sustainability reporting and introduced detailed European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). The CSRD raises questions concerning the relationship between EU harmonisation and national discretion, particularly after the Omnibus I Directive (Omnibus I) narrowed the personal scope of mandatory reporting to reduce administrative burdens for undertakings.
This thesis examines the compatibility of national gold-plating in sustainability reporting with EU law, using Finland’s CSRD implementation and Omnibus I transposition proposal as a case study. The thesis assesses whether Finnish divergences fall within the harmonised CSRD and ESRS framework, and whether they comply with Articles 50 and 114 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and proportionality.
The thesis argues that the most legally significant divergence in Finnish law concerned the personal scope extension to certain entities outside the direct scope of the CSRD. The Finnish digital filing, publication and enforcement measures were instead procedural choices. Overall, Finland’s original implementation was compatible with EU law, and the post-Omnibus proposal strengthens the proportionality of national measures. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9233537
- author
- Paatero, Nea Olivia LU
- supervisor
-
- Anil Öztürk LU
- organization
- course
- JAEM03 20261
- year
- 2026
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- language
- English
- id
- 9233537
- date added to LUP
- 2026-06-17 12:56:35
- date last changed
- 2026-06-17 12:56:35
@misc{9233537,
abstract = {{Corporate sustainability reporting has become a central instrument in the European Union’s (EU) attempt to improve market transparency and support the objectives of the European Green Deal. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) expanded the scope and content of sustainability reporting and introduced detailed European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). The CSRD raises questions concerning the relationship between EU harmonisation and national discretion, particularly after the Omnibus I Directive (Omnibus I) narrowed the personal scope of mandatory reporting to reduce administrative burdens for undertakings.
This thesis examines the compatibility of national gold-plating in sustainability reporting with EU law, using Finland’s CSRD implementation and Omnibus I transposition proposal as a case study. The thesis assesses whether Finnish divergences fall within the harmonised CSRD and ESRS framework, and whether they comply with Articles 50 and 114 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and proportionality.
The thesis argues that the most legally significant divergence in Finnish law concerned the personal scope extension to certain entities outside the direct scope of the CSRD. The Finnish digital filing, publication and enforcement measures were instead procedural choices. Overall, Finland’s original implementation was compatible with EU law, and the post-Omnibus proposal strengthens the proportionality of national measures.}},
author = {{Paatero, Nea Olivia}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Harmonisation and Member State Regulatory Autonomy in EU Sustainability Reporting Law: Gold-Plating Under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and Its Implementation in Finland}},
year = {{2026}},
}