Regulation 2023/2869 - Amendment of certain Regulations as regards the establishment and functioning of the European single access point - Main contents

Official Journal

of the European Union

EN

Series L

2023/2869

20.12.2023

Easy and structured access to data, including to information provided on a voluntary basis, is important to enable decision makers in the economy and society to make sound decisions that serve the efficient functioning of the market. Such access is also necessary in order to increase opportunities for the growth and visibility of, and innovation by, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Rolling out common European data spaces in crucial sectors, including the financial sector, serves the purpose of providing easy access to reliable sources of information in those sectors. The financial sector is itself expected to undergo a digital transformation in the coming years and the Union should support that transformation, in particular by promoting data-driven finance. Furthermore, putting sustainable finance at the heart of the financial system is a key means of achieving the green transition of the Union economy. For that green transition to succeed, it is essential that information related to the sustainability and social governance of businesses is easily accessible to investors so that they are better informed when making decisions about investments. For those purposes, public access to financial, non-financial and environmental-, social- and governance-related information about natural or legal persons (‘entities’) that are themselves required to make such information public, or that publicly disclose such information to a collection body on a voluntary basis, needs to be improved. An efficient means of doing so at Union level is to establish a centralised platform giving electronic access to all relevant information.

In its communication of 24 September 2020 entitled ‘A Capital Markets Union for people and businesses - new action plan’, the Commission proposed to improve public access to entities’ financial and non-financial information by building a European single access point (ESAP). The communication of the Commission of 24 September 2020 entitled ‘A digital finance strategy for the EU’ set out in general terms how the Union could promote the digital transformation of finance in the coming years, in particular how to promote data-driven finance. Subsequently, in its communication of 6 July 2021 entitled ‘Strategy for Financing the Transition to a Sustainable Economy’, the Commission placed sustainable finance at the heart of the financial system, as a key means of achieving the green transition of the Union economy, as part of the European Green Deal set out in the Commission’s communication of 11 December 2019.

ESAP is established in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2023/2859 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) in order to provide the public with easy centralised access to information about entities and their products that is of relevance to financial services, capital markets and sustainability, which authorities and entities are required to publish pursuant to Union legislative acts in those fields. Such publication should be carried out in accordance with a ‘file once’ principle and without entailing any...