GBP Report January: Majority of Companies Welcome Relaxation of Sustainability Reporting Requirements – but See Further Need for Reform

Press release from 26 January  2026
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The results of the GBP Report show that a majority of the companies affected give a positive assessment of the Omnibus Initiative, which among other things relaxes reporting requirements. Throughout 2025, the proportion of companies in favor of the initiative remained consistently above 50 percent. Among the companies that will be completely exempt from reporting requirements as a result of the reform, only five percent reject the initiative.

Sustainability reports are often perceived as a bureaucratic burden
The data show that the positive evaluation of the Omnibus initiative is primarily based on the expected reduction in bureaucracy. Around two-thirds of companies that will remain subject to reporting requirements even after the Omnibus reform perceive the EU's ESG guidelines as a burden. Among companies that would originally have been subject to reporting requirements and had already made preparations but are now exempt from the obligation, this proportion is even higher at 78.1 percent.

“The problem is that, as the original rules were designed, too many companies saw them as nothing more than a bureaucratic documentation burden rather than a business opportunity. This caused considerable dissatisfaction and political pressure, to which the EU has responded with this initiative,” explains Professor Jannis Bischof, Principal Investigator and Scientific Director of the GBP who holds the Chair of Business Administration and Accounting at the University of Mannheim. The effort involved is considerable and often associated with high costs for external consulting and IT services. For the ESG report, companies must collect data on CO₂ emissions, biodiversity protection, equal opportunity, and supplier standards—on an annual basis. “Obviously, too few companies have recognized the value of this data collection, while too many have focused on the associated costs, including the valuable insights that foreign competitors can gain from public reports,” Bischof summarizes.

Bureaucracy slows down investment and new product development
The perception of ESG reporting requirements as a bureaucratic burden is also reflected in business decisions. According to the survey, 68.7 percent of the companies affected state that they have not implemented planned investments in the past two years due to bureaucratic burdens. In addition, foreign business relationships were rejected more frequently (25.4 percent) and new product developments were suspended more often (24.6 percent). “When companies postpone investments or forgo international cooperation, this can ultimately counteract sustainability goals in the long term,” says Bischof. The Omnibus Initiative could therefore have a potentially positive effect.

Desire for further simplification and clear framework conditions
At the same time, the GBP Report shows that many companies believe the reform does not go far enough. More than one in three medium-sized or large companies are in favor of further simplifications in ESG reporting requirements. Following the Omnibus announcement, the proportion of companies citing uncertainties in the interpretation and application of the rules as a key source of burden has also increased. Many report that they are devoting considerable resources to clarifying exactly what needs to be reported and what the authorities specifically expect. “The results underscore that, in addition to simplifying the statutory provisions, clear, reliable, and well-communicated framework conditions in the interaction between companies and the relevant authorities are crucial for the attractiveness of the business location,” emphasizes Bischof.

Reform not without controversy                                                                                                                                  However, the Omnibus Initiative is controversial, as the original rules on sustainability reporting and supply chain due diligence were intended to reduce competitive disadvantages for companies that had voluntarily adopted particularly sustainable and socially responsible business practices. The relaxations that have now been agreed upon partly run counter to this objective. They focus primarily on reducing bureaucracy, as the previous requirements imposed extensive documentation and reporting obligations on a large number of companies—largely irrespective of how much their business model actually contributes to environmental or social risks. As  a result, the rules were often perceived as a competitive disadvantage for European companies compared to their non-European competitors.

Background to the European Union's Omnibus Initiative
With the approval of the European Parliament on 16 December 2025, the reform of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) was adopted—even before the original versions had been transposed into national law in Germany. In the future, only companies with at least 1,000 employees and a net annual turnover of more than EUR 450 million will be required to report on sustainability. Even higher thresholds apply to supply chain obligations (5,000 employees, EUR 1.5 billion in turnover). In addition, the so-called “stop-the-clock” rule postpones the start of reporting obligations—particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises—by two years, to 2027.

Read the “GBP Report: Business Trends in January 2026” here: https://www.accounting-for-transparency.de/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/gbp_monitor_2026_01.pdf.

Further information on the GBP monitoring report

The German Business Panel interviews more than 800 companies per month on the economic situation in Germany and collects data on 1) any expected changes in revenue, profit and investments, 2) economic decisions, 3) the expected shutdown rate in the sector, and 4) the satisfaction with the economic policy. Furthermore, GBP reports on particularly relevant questions every three months.

Background information on the German Business Panel
The GBP is the long-term survey panel of the trans-regional Collaborative Research Centre “Accounting for Transparency” (www.accounting-for-transparency.de). The Collaborative Research Center (CRC) “TRR 266 Accounting for Transparency” was established in July 2019. In May 2023, the German Research Foundation (DFG) approved the extension of four additional years. It is the first CRC with a focus on business administration. More than 100 researchers from the following eight universities are involved in the CRC:  Paderborn University (host unversity), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, University of Mannheim, researchers of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, University of Cologne and Leibniz University Hannover. The researchers examine how accounting and taxation affect the transparency of companies and how regulation and firm transparency impact our economy and society. The CRC is funded with approx. EUR 18 million.

Contact:
Prof. Dr. Jannis Bischof

Chair of Business Administration and Accounting
University of Mannheim

Phone: +49 621 181-1630
E-mail: jbischofmail-uni-mannheim.de

Yvonne Kaul
Research Communication
University of Mannheim

E-mail: kaulmail-uni-mannheim.de