Sweden plans to exempt more firms from sustainability reporting

Sweden’s government wants to limit mandatory sustainability reporting to companies with more than 1,000 employees and annual turnover above SEK 5 billion, sharply narrowing the businesses required to disclose their social and environmental impact.

The draft law, published on Tuesday, would require both thresholds to be exceeded in each of the previous two financial years. Small and medium-sized listed companies would leave the reporting requirement altogether.

The government says the changes implement revised EU rules and would reduce administrative costs. Companies in a reporting firm’s supply chain that fall outside the rules would gain a right to refuse requests exceeding the EU’s voluntary sustainability-reporting standards.

Unions LO and TCO warned during consultation that narrower reporting would make it harder for citizens and investors to scrutinise how companies are run. The government’s draft records their objection alongside support from business and several public agencies.

The proposed start date is 19 March 2027. The text has been sent for legal scrutiny by the Council on Legislation; it is not an enacted change.

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