Economic Effects of the Introduction and Implementation of European ESG Standards for Corporate Sustainability Reporting

In a number of international initiatives and meetings, a wide range of stakeholders place corporate social responsibility in the light of global sustainable development policy. Emphasis is placed on the importance and influence of enterprises with their activities for the implementation of the strategic goals of the governments to change the quality of the growth and prosperity of the nations. To realize these goals nowadays in developed economies, transparency and accountability are accepted as basic elements of corporate social commitment. They have gained popularity as a safe and reliable approach in achieving sustainable development and a comprehensive and complete presentation of companies in terms of corporate social responsibility. After the European Union issued the first mandatory standards for corporate sustainability reporting and included a wide range of non-financial indicators in the scope of sustainability reports, this enables a more specific and accurate assessment of the contribution and impact of enterprises in relation to the goals of sustainable development and the green transition of economies. The object of consideration in this article is the European ESG standards for the reporting of enterprises in relation to sustainability, and the subject is the approaches and mechanisms of influence regarding the potential effects of the implementation of the standards. The goal is to determine the economic effects for enterprises, in particular for the activity of small and medium-sized enterprises, from the implementation of the standards and to specify the impact instruments in view of the benefits, costs and risks for the sustainable development of enterprises. It is argued that the introduction and implementation of the European ESG standards for the reporting of enterprises in relation to sustainability create to a certain extent conditions of uncertainty for the business environment and give rise to potential risks for the European economy in terms of some of the economic effects for small and medium-sized enterprises.