It feels like it has been a long time coming.

But a compromise deal has finally been struck to pave the way that businesses will report on sustainability progress across the European Union, something that has been a bone of contention over the past couple of years.

After wrangling over specific changes to the flagship Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) since last autumn, the European Commission’s Legal Affairs Committee this week accepted a softening of the broad-reaching requirements, which above all would see smaller companies exempt from the obligations

The CSRD is central to both the EU’s Green Deal package for making the European economy more sustainable and moves to reduce its bite have been tabled since the bloc’s elections last year. A full vote on the measures is expected next Monday before the changes go through final edits ahead of being adopted.

As Forbes reported, the drive to simplify the obligations and reduce the corporate burden have seen a tussle between a politically polarised left and right, and the outcome is somewhere in the middle, but more of a victory for right-leaning politicians.

Quite where the reporting threshold will end up remains to be seen as it is subject to a trilogue process between the European Council, Parliament and Commission, but the softening could mean that only companies with an average of 1,000 employees or more across a financial year or annual turnover above €450 million will have to comply, with possible exemptions for financial holdings and listed subsidiaries.

The measures are also not just targeted at businesses headquartered in member states, but all that have operations in the EU, impacting many more international firms. But there is also a possibility that the reporting obligations for non-EU companies will now be pushed back to 2028.

All companies will be glad to see some greater clarity after lengthy haggling. And as Sustainability magazine reported, the changes would mean 90 per cent of firms previously due to be affected will now not be, although MEs will argue that the simplification will reduce the burden on industry while keeping the green transition on track by embracing the largest firms.

We can still expect a harsh exchange of views as the amendments pass through, with the World Wildlife Fund having already declared the proposals to undermine existing corporate sustainability laws.

Bloomberg outlined the changes as drastic, based on one of the thresholds being likely to increase from 500 to 1,000 employees.

Euractiv also pointed to the decision being a setback for the green agenda, with the lead Green negotiator quoted that it “guts Europe’s sustainability rules and abandons accountability.”

The changes may have been hailed as much-needed clarity, but with the finer points still to be hammered out over the remainder of this year and early next, businesses will still have to wait to understand how the measures will impact them, what changes they may need to make to sustainability reporting and how they approach related communication.