Sustainability omnibus enters into force on 18 March 2026 - update on Dutch implementation

After the agreement reached between the European Parliament and the Council on the Sustainability Omnibus in December 2025, it has now been published in the Official Journal of the EU on February 26, as Directive (EU) 2026/470 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 February 2026 amending Directives 2006/43/EC, 2013/34/EU, (EU) 2022/2464 and (EU) 2024/1760 as regards certain corporate sustainability reporting requirements and certain corporate sustainability due diligence requirements.

The Directive will enter into force on 18 March 2026. Member States must transpose it by 19 March 2027, with the exception of Article 4, which contains the amendments to the CS3D. Those amendments need to be transposed by 26 July 2028. First application of the CS3D is delayed until 26 July 2029.

The changes to the CSRD, including the new scope thresholds, apply from financial years starting on or after 1 January 2027. The Directive allows EU Member States to exempt ‘Wave 1’ companies that are in scope from 1 January 2024, but will be out of scope from 1 January 2027 because they do not exceed the revised thresholds, from their sustainability reporting obligations for FY 2025 and FY 2026.

The Netherlands implementation legislation update

The Netherlands has not implemented the CSRD yet. Draft implementation legislation is still pending and will be amended soon to incorporate the changes pursuant to the Sustainability Omnibus. The legislative process is further delayed until this amendment takes place. The Dutch minister announced the intention to use the option to grant exemptions in advance for FY2025 and FY2026 to companies that fall outside the new CSRD scope.

In a letter to the Dutch Parliament dated 9 February, the minister also addressed the retroactive effect (until 1 January 2024) of the draft implementation legislation, stating that the retroactive effect cannot be waived. However, to address the concerns raised while at the same time safeguarding the application of the directive provisions from financial year 2024 as much as possible, the government intends to add a repair provision to the regulations implementing the CSRD. This repair provision is intended to ensure that companies and auditors (for the limited assurance) that voluntarily acted in accordance with the CSRD prior to the entry into force of the implementing regulations are deemed to have fulfilled their obligations arising from the implementing legislation.