Mandatory Sustainability Reporting in the European Union: A comparative analysis between Danish and French companies under the CSRD.

Over the past decade, sustainability has evolved from a peripheral corporate concern into a central pillar of business strategy, regulation, and financial decision-making. In this context, sustainability reporting has progressively shifted from voluntary disclosure practices to a structured, mandatory framework aimed at enhancing transparency, accountability, and comparability across companies. This thesis examines the evolution of mandatory sustainability reporting in the European Union, analyzing the transition from the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD) to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Drawing on an extensive literature review across EU and non-EU countries, this thesis evaluates the theoretical and empirical impacts of mandatory reporting regimes, focusing on economic, organizational, and market-related consequences. The findings highlight how mandatory sustainability reporting can improve the information environment, reduce asymmetries, and influence corporate behaviour, while also imposing compliance costs and operational challenges, particularly for firms newly subjected to reporting obligations. The thesis further considers the recent EU Omnibus Directive proposal, which refines the CSRD framework. The empirical section presents a comparative analysis of 2024 CSRD-compliant sustainability reports from Danish and French listed companies. Through a dataset developed from publicly available disclosures, the study investigates reporting practices, ESRS adoption, materiality assessments, and disclosure quality, identifying significant differences between the two jurisdictions. Overall, the thesis contributes to the growing field of sustainable finance by offering an integrated perspective on the regulatory, theoretical, and empirical dimensions of mandatory sustainability reporting. It underscores the CSRD’s role as a transformative milestone in shaping corporate accountability and financial markets, and it illustrates how regulatory pressure can accelerate the transition toward a more transparent and sustainable European economy.