Implementing the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive: Challenges, Opportunities, and Emerging Practices

Call for Papers

Implementing the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive: Challenges, Opportunities, and Emerging Practices

Journal: Accounting in Europe
Publisher:Taylor & Francis Group
Special Issue
Manuscript Submission Opens: 1 September 2026
Manuscript Submission Deadline: 30 November 2026

Accounting in Europe invites submissions for a Special Issue examining the implementation and evolution of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), including challenges and emerging practices arising from recent EU regulatory developments.

About the Special Issue

The CSRD, adopted by the European Union in 2022, introduced major changes to corporate sustainability reporting, including expanded disclosure requirements, the development of ESRS covering environmental, social and governance matters, and requirements relating to third-party assurance. These measures were intended to improve the transparency, comparability, and accountability of corporate sustainability information while creating significant implementation challenges for companies, assurance providers, and users.

The EU's 2025 Omnibus initiative proposed amendments affecting the CSRD and related sustainability regulation, with the stated aim of simplifying requirements and reducing administrative burdens. Against this evolving regulatory background, the Special Issue seeks research on the effects of CSRD implementation on corporate behaviour, internal processes, management systems, strategy, business models, assurance, and reporting practices, as well as the wider institutional, regulatory, and political dynamics shaping sustainability disclosure in Europe.

Topics of Interest

Submissions may address, but are not limited to:

• Implementation of the CSRD and ESRS

• CSRD implementation before and after the Omnibus process

• Corporate responses to sustainability reporting regulation

• Changes in corporate behaviour and internal processes

• Sustainability reporting and management systems

• CSRD implications for corporate strategy and business models

• Investor and stakeholder information needs

• CSRD/ESRS and European competitiveness

• Sustainability reporting, resilience, and innovation

• Data collection challenges under CSRD/ESRS

• Stakeholder engagement

• Materiality assessment

• Economic effects of sustainability disclosure

• Operational and reputational effects of CSRD implementation

• Alignment between ESRS and global reporting frameworks

• ESRS and GRI

• ESRS and IFRS S1 and S2

• Sustainability reporting by multinational companies

• Regulatory and institutional dynamics surrounding the CSRD

• Political influences on sustainability reporting regulation

• Role of EFRAG and EU member states

• Sector-specific sustainability disclosure challenges

• CSRD implications for finance, energy, manufacturing, and technology

• Audit and assurance under the CSRD

• Development of sustainability assurance standards

• Capacity of the assurance market

• CSRD implications for SMEs

• Effects on non-European companies

• Comparative implementation across EU member states

• National enforcement differences

• Greenwashing risks

• Standard overload and compliance-driven reporting

• CSRD and meaningful sustainability outcomes

• Influence of the CSRD beyond the EU

• Global development of sustainability reporting standards

Preferred Article Types

The Special Issue welcomes original research, including normative research examining the original CSRD provisions and expected or emerging changes associated with the Omnibus process.

Consistent with the journal's broader editorial policy, contributions may employ a wide range of research paradigms and methods, provided they generate relevant insights for research, practice, policy, or regulation and are accessible to the journal's academic and practitioner readership.

Research Focus

Particular attention is encouraged on:

• Practical challenges and opportunities associated with CSRD/ESRS implementation

• Regulatory changes arising from the Omnibus process

• Corporate adaptation to changing sustainability disclosure requirements

• Interactions between European and international sustainability standards

• Assurance and auditing implications

• Regulatory and institutional developments

• Sector-specific implementation challenges

• Consequences for SMEs and non-EU companies

• Greenwashing and compliance-related concerns

• Comparative experiences across EU member states

• The international influence of EU sustainability reporting regulation

Submission Information

Submission Opens: 1 September 2026
Manuscript Submission Deadline: 30 November 2026

Manuscripts should be submitted through the Accounting in Europe submission system and must comply with the journal's manuscript preparation and submission requirements.

Authors should state clearly in their cover letter that the manuscript is intended for this Special Issue.

A dedicated track related to the Special Issue is also planned as part of the EUFIN – Conference of Accounting in Europe.

Submit to Accounting in Europe

Accounting in Europe – Instructions for Authors

Accounting in Europe – Journal Page

EUFIN – Conference of Accounting in Europe

Guest Editors

Diogenis Baboukardos
Audencia Business School, France, and Athens University of Economics & Business, Greece
Email: dbaboukardos@audencia.com

Begoña Giner
Universitat de València, Spain
Email: begona.giner@uv.es

Ronita Ram
University of Reading, UK
Email: ronita.ram@henley.ac.uk

Frank Schiemann
University of Bamberg, Germany
Email: frank.schiemann@uni-bamberg.de

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