The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), initially adopted in 2014, defines how companies should report on all extra-financial activities, including on the impact their business has on sustainability. In April 2021, the European Commission put forward a proposal to review this text, notably to extend the scope to all large companies and introduce more detailed and EU-wide reporting requirements, but the initial proposal missed out on animal welfare.  

However, the European Parliament’s position, led by MEP Pascal Durand, suggested adding animal welfare to the scope of the required reporting, and the Council agreed, underlining the inherent links between animal welfare and sustainability. According to the agreed text, businesses would thus need to report on how their activities impact the welfare of animals. 

After the EU Code of Conduct on responsible business and marketing practices, which successfully incorporated animal welfare concerns, this piece of legislation represents another milestone for animal welfare in the context of the debates on corporate sustainable governance. Indeed, the text recognises that animal welfare is linked to sustainability and should be taken into account by companies when establishing and reporting about their impacts on sustainability.  All eyes are now on the Corporate Due Diligence Directive, that should also recognise the links between animal welfare and sustainability in the context of corporate governance.