Two FAQs on the application of the EU Taxonomy Regulation published in the EU Official Journal

On 20 October 2023, the two FAQs approved by the EU Commission in December 2022 (we reported on this in Express Accounting News Issue 51/2022) were published as a "Commission Notice" in the EU Official Journal.  

Formal adoption has now taken place following the official translations into the languages of the EU member states. Compared to the "Draft Commission Notices", mainly minor adjustments have been made to the wording for clarification purposes.

• The first FAQ (Commission Notice C/2023/305) contains 34 questions and answers that are intended to assist companies in interpreting certain legal provisions of the Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2178 of 6 July 2021 on the content and presentation of taxonomy disclosures (so-called Disclosure Delegated Act).
  Compared to the "Draft Commission Notice", for example, the second paragraph in the answer to question 13 ("Materiality thresholds") has been added. This clarifies that companies do not have to further assess taxonomy-eligible activities that are not material to their business activities and for which fulfilment of the technical screening criteria cannot be confirmed due to a lack of data or evidence, and can present these as non-taxonomy-aligned.
• The second FAQ (Commission Notice C/2023/267)  addresses a total of 187 questions on the application of the Technical Screening Criteria contained in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2139 of 4 June 2021 for assessing taxonomy alignment for the first two environmental objectives (so-called Climate Delegated Act).
  Compared to the "Draft Commission Notice", for example, the second paragraph was deleted in the answer to question 127 in connection with the biodiversity-focused DNSH criterion for the activity "New construction" in accordance with section 7.1.

The FAQs explain the provisions contained in the applicable legislation. It does not in any way extend the rights and obligations of the economic operators or competent authorities concerned under that legislation, nor does it introduce any additional requirements. The FAQs are merely intended to support companies in implementing the relevant legislation.