What is the European Single Access Point (ESAP)?

The European Single Access Point (ESAP) is set to become a cornerstone of the European Union's strategy for transforming sustainable finance. As a central platform designed to provide seamless access to financial and sustainability-related data, ESAP bridges the gap between transparency and accountability in the EU’s capital markets. By centralising disclosures required under key regulations such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), ESAP not only enhances access to critical information but also plays a pivotal role in aligning the financial sector with the EU's ambitious climate and sustainability goals.

This initiative is expected to have profound implications for sustainable finance legislation, offering investors, companies, and regulators an unprecedented level of transparency. ESAP ensures that sustainability-related data is readily available, standardised, and machine-readable, enabling stakeholders to make informed decisions and monitor progress toward environmental, social, and governance (ESG) objectives. 

As a key component of the Capital Markets Union (CMU), ESAP also strengthens the integration of EU capital markets, facilitating the transition to a greener and more resilient economy. This article explores the ESAP, how it supports the EU’s legislative framework for sustainable finance and what it means for the future of responsible investing and corporate reporting.

In this article:

• The Capital Markets Union: The Origin of the ESAP
• What is The European Single Access Point (ESAP)?
• How Does ESAP Affect Sustainable Finance Legislation?
• ESAP: Implementation Timeline
• Next Steps for the ESAP
  
  

The Capital Markets Union: The Origin of the ESAP

The Capital Markets Union (CMU) was launched in 2015 to create a unified and efficient single market for capital in the EU by addressing the fragmentation that limits funding opportunities for businesses and individuals. 

In 2020, to support economic recovery from COVID-19, drive the digital and green transitions, and enhance financial resilience, the European Commission adopted a new CMU action plan outlining 16 legislative and non-legislative actions. These actions focused on fostering an inclusive, sustainable recovery, providing safer investment opportunities for individuals, and integrating national capital markets into a single market.

Building on this plan, the Commission proposed further measures in 2021 to strengthen EU capital markets, including the European Single Access Point (ESAP). ESAP, alongside other initiatives like the European Long-Term Investment Funds (ELTIFs) and the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD), aims to improve access to business and company data for investors, encourage long-term investment, and facilitate the cross-border sale of investment funds. 

Together, these measures are designed to connect EU companies with investors more effectively, expand investment opportunities for individuals, and enhance the overall integration of EU capital markets.

What is The European Single Access Point (ESAP)? 

The European Single Access Point (ESAP) is an initiative from the European Union designed to centralise access to financial and non-financial information about companies and investment products across the EU. Introduced as part of the EU’s Capital Markets Union (CMU) action plan in 2021, ESAP represents a significant step toward increasing transparency, facilitating cross-border investments, and improving the availability of corporate data.

The ESAP serves as a unified platform that consolidates public data of relevance to financial services, capital markets, and sustainability in the EU,  addressing the challenge of fragmented access to information that currently exists across various national and EU-level repositories. 

By consolidating data into a single point of access, it simplifies the process of finding relevant disclosures, including corporate filings, financial statements, sustainability reports, and investment product details. This development is particularly beneficial for investors, analysts, and stakeholders who need transparent, reliable, and comparable data to make informed decisions.

A crucial aspect of ESAP is its focus on digital accessibility. The platform ensures the information it houses is machine-readable and easily searchable, making it more user-friendly for stakeholders.

The initiative aligns closely with various EU regulations, such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), among others. This alignment ensures that the platform not only simplifies access to required disclosures but also supports the EU’s broader sustainability and transparency goals.

The ESAP package, which contains two regulations and one directive, was published in the Official Journal of the EU on 20 December 2023 and entered into force on 9 January 2024.

• The first regulation establishes the European Single Access Point itself. 
• The Second is an omnibus regulation that lists the 21 sectorial regulations amended by ESAP
• Finally, an omnibus directive that lists the 16 sectorial directives amended by ESAP
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How Does ESAP Affect Sustainable Finance Legislation?

By centralising disclosures under key regulations like CSRD and SFDR, ESAP improves access to crucial information and aligns finance with the EU’s sustainability goals. This initiative will significantly impact sustainable finance, providing investors, companies, and regulators with enhanced transparency.

• Standard Submission Format: Companies under the CSRD scope will need to submit their sustainability statements to ESAP through national contact points. These reports must be prepared in XHTML format with XBRL tagging, ensuring both machine- and human-readability.
• Timeline Alignment: ESAP is scheduled to be operational by summer 2027. From this date, management reports, annual financial statements, sustainability statements, and audit reports will be made available via ESAP.
• Centralised Repository: ESAP will serve as the central platform where companies' sustainability statements will be made available to the public. This integration will improve the reporting process and make sustainability data easily accessible to stakeholders, including investors and regulators
• Data Quality and Standardisation: By streamlining data submission through standardised channels, ESAP will help ensure the quality of information meets EU-wide reporting standards. This standardisation will support the wider goal of providing comparable and reliable sustainability information.
• Enhanced Transparency and Accessibility: ESAP will leverage the impact of sustainable finance legislation by reducing time, cost, and errors associated with reporting. It will provide investors and other stakeholders with easier access to comparable ESG data, supporting the EU's sustainability goals and efforts to combat greenwashing.
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ESAP: Implementation Timeline

The implementation of the ESAP will take place in phases, reflecting the gradual approach needed to establish a comprehensive and functional system for accessing corporate and financial data across the EU. These phases are designed to ensure a smooth rollout while addressing technical, regulatory, and operational challenges.

Phase 1: Initial Rollout (2027)

The first phase focuses on launching the foundational elements of ESAP. During this stage, the platform will start by integrating a limited number of data sources and disclosures already required under existing EU regulations. Priority will be given to easily accessible and high-demand information, such as corporate financial statements, sustainability disclosures under the CSRD, and certain investment product disclosures under the SFDR.

The objective in this phase is to establish the core infrastructure of ESAP, test its functionality, and familiarise stakeholders with the platform’s capabilities. It will also begin incorporating machine-readable formats to enhance usability for digital applications.

Phase 2: Expansion of Data Sources

In the second phase, ESAP will expand its scope to include additional datasets and regulatory disclosures. This stage will likely involve the integration of non-financial information, particularly data related to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, as these are central to the EU's sustainability objectives.

Phase 2 will also focus on increasing the volume of machine-readable data to ensure stakeholders can efficiently process information using automated tools. Improvements in the platform’s interoperability with existing EU and national systems will also be a priority.

Phase 3: Full Implementation and Functionality

The final phase will mark the full implementation of ESAP as a comprehensive access point for all required financial and non-financial disclosures. By this stage, the platform is expected to include a wide range of corporate, financial, and sustainability-related information from companies of various sizes, including SMEs. The database will fully support machine readability, search functionality, and multilingual access, making it highly user-friendly for a diverse range of stakeholders.

This phase will also address ongoing refinements, such as incorporating feedback from users, enhancing security and data protection measures, and adapting to evolving regulatory requirements.

Who is the Authority Responsible for the ESAP? 

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) remains the central authority responsible for establishing and operating the European Single Access Point (ESAP). As mandated under Regulation (EU) 2023/2859, ESMA is tasked with creating the necessary infrastructure to make the platform operational by July 10, 2027. ESMA's responsibilities extend beyond technical development to include the coordination of stakeholders and ensuring the platform meets the demands of financial markets, businesses, and civil society.

To achieve this, ESMA will establish an advisory steering board that includes users, preparers, and national and European competent authorities. This board will ensure that the platform effectively addresses the need for accessible and actionable financial and sustainability information. ESMA has also issued final draft technical standards in collaboration with the other European Supervisory Authorities (EBA and EIOPA), which detail the obligations of data collection bodies and define the technical requirements for information submission, validation, and access. This includes metadata standards, standardised identifiers, and the development of a public Application Programming Interface (API) to enable seamless data access.

The ESAP Regulation outlines a phased approach, starting with voluntary submissions of data, with further technical standards to be developed by January 2028. Member States are required to designate at least one data collection body by January 2030, ensuring alignment with the overall objectives of the ESAP. The platform will provide free and open access to information, with costs covered through a combination of public funding from EU member states and the European Union itself. Open licenses will govern the use of the data to facilitate widespread application and usability. These updates highlight the EU’s progress in making ESAP a cornerstone of the Capital Markets Union, fostering transparency and supporting a digital and sustainable economic future.

Next Steps for the ESAP

Member states are required to transpose the amending directive into national law by January 10, 2026. ESMA will continue to work on setting up ESAP, including consultations on disclosure templates for various sectors.

The European Single Access Point (ESAP) will contain the digital sustainability-related information published by companies in compliance with European ESG legislation, like the CSRD. Greenomy, through its alignment with EFRAG’s XBRL Taxonomy, covers the granularity required for the ESAP to ensure corporates are disclosing all the data points the legislation requires.

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