ESG / Sustainability in Netherlands

Key dates

2026-10-13

ESMA published its European Common Enforcement Priorities for the 2026 annual financial reports of listed issuers.

2026-10-21

The AFM published its guidance identifying the ESMA priorities and continuing Dutch focus areas for 2026 reporting.

Suggested considerations

• Issuers should map the ESMA 2026 priorities against their 2026 IFRS financial statements, sustainability statement, annual report and ESEF package, documenting conclusions for each material issue.
• Finance and risk teams should assess how geopolitical developments affect assumptions, impairment testing, liquidity, going-concern assessments, provisions, commitments and other relevant IFRS disclosures, rather than relying only on generic risk-factor language.
• Companies undertaking restructurings or debt modifications should consider whether IAS 37 provisions, IFRS 9 derecognition or modification accounting, covenant effects, liquidity disclosures and related management judgments are complete and internally consistent.
• Sustainability reporting teams should retain evidence supporting the double materiality assessment and consider whether positive and negative impacts are presented with comparable granularity, including for ESRS E1 and ESRS S1 where relevant.
• Issuers should reconcile each material impact, risk and opportunity to the relevant policies, actions, targets and metrics, explain gaps where no policy, action or target exists, and ensure targets are measurable, time-bound and outcome-oriented.
• Reporting owners should perform a cross-document consistency review between the sustainability statement, management report, financial statements, risk disclosures and other parts of the annual report.
• ESEF specialists should validate the statement of changes in equity taxonomy selections, anchoring, sign conventions, extensions and completeness of tags, and should conduct technical validation before filing.
• Preparers should use the AFM’s cash-flow points of attention and self-assessment to test classification, non-cash transactions, reconciliation disclosures, consistency with the financial statements and clarity of significant judgments.

What changed

The AFM has stated that its 2026 supervisory work will focus on ESMA’s priorities for annual reports of issuers admitted to trading on EEA regulated markets. For IFRS financial statements, this covers geopolitical risks and uncertainties, restructuring provisions, and debt restructuring. For sustainability reporting under the ESRS, issuers should demonstrate a robust double materiality assessment and connected disclosures linking impacts, risks and opportunities with related policies, actions, targets and metrics, with market commentary indicating particular attention to balanced treatment of...

Key dates

2024-02-28

Directive (EU) 2024/825 was adopted, amending the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and the Consumer Rights Directive.

2026-03-27 Deadline

EU Member States were required to adopt and publish national transposition measures.

2026-06-24

The Dutch Implementatiewet richtlijn betere duurzaamheidsinformatie voor consumenten was published in the Staatsblad, according to the AFM publication.

2026-07-16

The Dutch implementation legislation entered into force, according to the AFM publication.

2026-09-27

The ECGT rules became applicable to consumer-facing commercial communications across the EU, including relevant financial-services marketing; the regime is applicable as at the publication date of 2026-10-09.

Suggested considerations

• Compliance teams may wish to inventory all consumer-facing sustainability claims, labels and environmental references used in websites, fund marketing, advertisements, product names, brochures, social media, sales scripts and corporate marketing.
• Firms should consider mapping each claim to the specific product, service, activity or business component to avoid implying whole-product or whole-enterprise sustainability where the evidence covers only part of the offering.
• Firms should consider maintaining an evidence file for every material claim, including the scope of the claim, methodology, data sources, verification, assumptions, limitations and approval owner.
• Marketing and product-governance reviews may wish to identify generic terms such as green, sustainable, environmentally friendly, climate positive and eco-friendly and confirm whether the required recognised excellent environmental performance can be demonstrated.
• Firms should consider removing or rewriting claims that describe products or services as climate neutral, carbon neutral or having reduced climate impact where the claim depends solely or materially on offsetting emissions, and should distinguish mitigation from compensation.
• Compliance teams may wish to review all sustainability labels, badges and proprietary ESG marks and confirm that each is supported by an eligible certification scheme or public scheme with appropriate independent verification.
• Firms communicating net-zero, climate-neutrality or other future environmental objectives should consider documenting a detailed and realistic implementation plan with measurable interim targets, deadlines, governance, monitoring and evidence of progress.
• Firms should consider testing claims against both the ECGT/BW 6 requirements and applicable Wft, SFDR, MiFID II, IDD and other sectoral disclosure and conduct standards, because satisfying a sectoral disclosure rule does not cure a claim prohibited under the consumer-law framework.

What changed

The Dutch Implementatiewet richtlijn betere duurzaamheidsinformatie voor consumenten amended Book 6 of the Dutch Civil Code, including the rules on unfair commercial practices in Articles 6:193a et seq., to implement Directive (EU) 2024/825, which amends Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair commercial practices and Directive 2011/83/EU on consumer rights. For consumer-facing commercial communications, sustainability claims should be specific, accurate, verifiable and supported by appropriate evidence.

Key dates

2026-08-20

De AFM publiceert de Beleidsregel geschiktheid Wta 2027.

2027-01-01

Beoogde inwerkingtredingsdatum van de Beleidsregel geschiktheid Wta 2027, gelijktijdig met de verwachte inwerkingtreding van de Wijzigingswet accountancysector.

Suggested considerations

• Compliance teams may wish to map de omzet uit wettelijke controles en het aantal wettelijke controles over de laatste drie aaneengesloten boekjaren tegen beide cumulatieve drempels van €3 miljoen en 150 controles.
• Betrokken accountantsorganisaties should consider identifying all functies die als beleidsbepaler of intern toezichthouder onder de Wta kunnen kwalificeren, inclusief relevante personen binnen het hoogste netwerkonderdeel.
• Firms should consider performing a gap assessment against the Beleidsregel geschiktheid Wta 2027, met bijzondere aandacht voor collectieve geschiktheid, kennis en ervaring, tijdsbesteding, onafhankelijk oordeel, governance en integriteit.
• Organisaties may wish to establish a forward-looking appointment and notification timetable so that nieuwe beleidsbepalers tijdig aan de AFM kunnen worden voorgelegd en eventuele wijzigingen in taken of verantwoordelijkheden afzonderlijk worden beoordeeld.
• Accountancy groups should consider monitoring de publicatie in de Staatscourant, de definitieve inwerkingtreding van de Wijzigingswet accountancysector en eventuele overgangsbepalingen voordat zij formele conclusies trekken over de toepasselijkheid op een specifieke organisatie.
• Firms involved in assurance over sustainability reporting should consider reviewing their role descriptions and competence matrices, while avoiding reliance on specifieke vereisten uit de Implementatiewet duurzaamheidsrapportering totdat de toepasselijke wetgeving daadwerkelijk in werking is.

What changed

De geschiktheidstoetsing gaat naar verwachting ook gelden voor beleidsbepalers van reguliere accountantsorganisaties die gedurende drie aaneengesloten boekjaren per boekjaar ten minste €3 miljoen omzet uit wettelijke controles behalen én ten minste 150 wettelijke controles uitvoeren. De criteria zijn cumulatief en zien op de accountantsorganisatie als geheel; marktcommentaar van SRA en Accountancy Vanmorgen bevestigt dat de uitbreiding vooral de grotere reguliere kantoren raakt, naar schatting ongeveer 10 tot 15 SRA-kantoren.