Comparison

CSRD vs CSDDD — reporting duty or conduct duty?

CSRD guide CSDDD guide

Published Reviewed

They are routinely spoken of together, delayed together by the same stop-the-clock directive and amended together through the Omnibus process — but they demand different things. CSRD is a transparency regime: report, to a standard, with assurance. CSDDD is a conduct regime: run due diligence, prevent and remediate harm, and answer for failures. A company can be perfectly CSRD-compliant while flunking CSDDD, because writing about a risk is not the same as acting on it.

Side by side

Dimension CSRD CSDDD
The core demand Publish an audited sustainability statement under the ESRS, anchored in double materiality. Operate risk-based due diligence across own operations, subsidiaries and the chain of activities — and remediate.
Who is caught first Former NFRD companies reported on FY 2024; the narrowed ordinary scope applies from FY 2027 above both 1,000 employees and €450 million turnover. Ordinary EU-company scope is above both 5,000 employees and €1.5 billion worldwide turnover; application begins 26 July 2029.
Climate Report climate impacts, targets and transition progress under ESRS E1. The former CSDDD climate-transition-plan article was repealed; separate climate duties may still arise under CSRD or other law.
Value chain Report on value-chain impacts as data, within materiality. Act on the chain of activities — upstream partners plus defined downstream logistics — with contractual and practical leverage.
Teeth Assurance opinions, supervisory measures and member-state penalties on the reporting. A uniform maximum pecuniary-penalty limit of 3% of worldwide turnover, plus damages liability under national law.
Where each stands Directive (EU) 2026/470 is in force; the narrowed scope applies for financial years starting in 2027. Directive (EU) 2026/470 is in force; transposition is due 26 July 2028 and application 26 July 2029.

How they combine

Treat CSRD as the public face of the system CSDDD requires you to actually run: one due-diligence process, one impact map, one evidence base — reported under one, enforced under the other. Companies that build reporting first and conduct later end up writing statements about processes they do not have; regulators and litigants both read those statements.

A quick self-check

Are you ready?

  • Is your scope position under each directive assessed separately and date-stamped against the current texts?
  • Would your CSRD statement survive being read as evidence in a CSDDD due-diligence dispute?
  • Is there one impact map feeding both regimes — or two teams producing two versions of the truth?
CSRD EU rules for standardised corporate sustainability reporting, assurance and digital disclosure. CSDDD EU rules for in-scope companies to address human-rights and environmental impacts in their chains of activities.

This comparison is general information about public law and standards, not legal advice, and does not create a client relationship. Rules change and apply differently by situation. Verify the current official sources and seek qualified advice where needed.