VSME Voluntary Standard: Anticipate CSRD and Value Your ESG Performance.

Why Should SMEs Care About the CSRD?

Although the European CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) primarily targets large enterprises and listed companies, its effects cascade down the entire value chain. As a supplier, subcontractor, or business partner to large groups, you are increasingly requested to provide precise sustainability data (specifically your Scope 1, 2, and 3 carbon footprint).

To address this need without imposing a disproportionate administrative burden, EFRAG designed the VSME (Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard).

The EFRAG VSME Standard: A Simplified Framework of Trust

The VSME standard offers a modular structure tailored to the size and resources of non-listed SMEs:

1. The Basic Module: A simplified list of general and qualitative ESG indicators (environmental policy, workforce details, business ethics).
2. The Narrative Module (Policies, Actions and Targets - PAT): To formalize your CSR policies, action plans, and impact reduction targets.
3. The Business Partners Module: Specially calibrated to collect the data points most frequently requested by your lenders, investors, and corporate clients (Value Chain Cap).

Double Materiality in CSR

To structure your reporting effectively, we guide you through a simplified double materiality assessment:

• Impact Materiality (Inside-Out): How your company’s activities positively or negatively impact the environment and society.
• Financial Materiality (Outside-In): How climate-related risks and opportunities or social factors impact your company’s financial performance.

Download our practical VSME guide

Access our methodological guide to understand the VSME standard, structure your first voluntary sustainability report, and transform this compliance trend into a commercial competitive advantage.