ESMA sets out 2026 European Common Enforcement Priorities

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the European financial markets regulator and supervisor, has outlined the European Common Enforcement Priorities (ECEP) for the 2026 annual financial reports of listed issuers.

The priorities identify the following areas of focus for issuers when preparing their annual financial reports:

- IFRS financial statements:

- Geopolitical risks and uncertainties

- Restructuring provisions and debt restructuring

- Sustainability statements under the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS):

- Continuing progress in applying materiality assessment

- Providing connected information on impacts, risks and opportunities (IROs), policies, actions and targets (PATs), and metrics

- European Single Electronic Format (ESEF) digital reporting:

- Common ESEF filing errors found in the statement of changes in equity

ESMA reaffirms its commitment to simplification and burden reduction, while maintaining a strong focus on investor protection and market stability. In this context, as in previous years, ESMA underlines the importance of materiality assessments when preparing and disclosing information to the market.

ESMA has also published the 31st extract from the FRWG (EECS) database of enforcement. The document contains seven decisions relating to the application of IFRS Accounting Standards and ESMA’s Guidelines on Alternative Performance Measures (APM Guidelines).

Next steps

Issuers, auditors, and supervisory bodies should apply these recommendations where relevant, taking into account their materiality and relevance for the issuer’s operations and reporting.

Further information:

Iris Hude

Communications Officer

press@esma.europa.eu