scholarly journals Does the EU Directive on non‐financial information influence the value relevance of ESG disclosure? Italian evidence

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 3470-3483
Author(s):  
Michela Cordazzo ◽  
Laura Bini ◽  
Giuseppe Marzo
Keyword(s):  
Value Relevance ◽  
Financial Information ◽  
Eu Directive ◽  
The Eu

The impact of the EU Directive on non-financial information: Novel features of the Italian case

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosa Lombardi ◽  
Antonietta Cosentino ◽  
Alessandro Sura ◽  
Michele Galeotti
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Theory ◽  
Financial Information ◽  
Institutional Pressures ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Public Companies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Eu Directive ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

Purpose This paper aims to examine the European Union (EU) 95/2014 Directive’s impact on large public companies. It chose Italy as a pivotal country that made non-financial information assurance mandatory, going beyond the EU Directive’s original requirements. Specifically, it investigates how the UE Directive fosters institutionalisation of the non-financial reporting (NFR) process in organisations. Design/methodology/approach Two large public companies in Italy are used as case studies. Data are gathered from annual and integrated reports, institutional websites and semi-structured interviews with the managers and employees involved in different organisational positions. The authors adopted the neo-institutional theory as a theoretical lens to identify the organisations’ response to the (external) institutional pressures influencing corporate reporting practices. Findings The findings demonstrate how the EU Directive fostered changes to large public companies’ reporting practices and external pressures contributed to influencing changes to internal organisational practices in terms of new internal processes, procedures and structures. These changes are motivated by the companies’ need to guarantee reliable information to be produced in their non-financial reports. Practical implications This paper helps academics and policymakers to advance NFR practices by understanding regulatory factors that can foster changes in the internal reporting process and responsibility within organisations. Originality/value The findings provide some empirical insights to foster reflections on the EU Directive’s effectiveness in changing reporting practices. This paper contributes to enriching the literature on institutional theory in shaping mandatory non-financial disclosure by identifying the institutional pressures influencing the effectiveness of regulations to change NFR practices.

scholarly journals Non-financial reporting in selected European countries

2021 ◽  
pp. 73-90
Author(s):  
Nikolina Dečman ◽  
Petr Petera ◽  
Marzena Remlein ◽  
Ana Rep
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Financial Information ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Professional Background ◽  
Financial Reports ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Eu Directive ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Eu

Directive 2014/95/EU gave the EU Member States a certain flexibility when transposing it into national law. Each Member State could, therefore, decide to introduce regulations of varying degrees of stringency. According to Directive 2014/95/EU, large companies have to publish reports on the policies they implement in relation to environmental protection, social responsibility and treatment of employees, respect for human rights, anti-corruption and bribery, diversity on company boards (in terms of age, gender, educational and professional background).In order to satisfy the EU rules, the Republic of Croatia has implemented into its legislation the provisions of the Directive 2014/95/EU regarding the disclosure of certain non-financial reporting, by amending the Accounting Act. Some companies registered in Croatia have been disclosing some of the required non-financial information in their reports even before the effective date of the Direc-tive, but conducted studies conclude that there is still a room for improvements.This chapter provides a short overview of regulation of non-financial reporting in the Czech Republic as well as overview of previous research on non-financial reporting in this country. The results of the research present that few Czech companies publish standalone corporate responsi-bility report. More popular is the disclosure of non-financial information within annual financial reports but even this approach is pursued by less than half of respondents. The amount of disclosed information in annual reports is mostly up to 5 pages. 11 companies (10.38%) provide more than 5 pages of environmental information and only 7 companies (6.60%) provide more than 5 pages of social information.In Poland, the requirement to present non-financial information relating to CSR was introduced by the Accounting Act. Public trust entities are required to present in the report on the activities a separate part called “Statement on non-financial information”. In 2017, the Polish Standard of Non-Financial Information (SIN, 2017) was published to help enterprises fulfil their obligations under the EU Directive.

scholarly journals ANALYSING THE LINK BETWEEN CSR REPORTING AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE VARIABLES OF BELGRADE STOCK EXCHANGE COMPANIES

TEME ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1369
Author(s):  
Mirjana Mijoković ◽  
Goranka Knežević ◽  
Vule Mizdrakovic
Keyword(s):  
Financial Performance ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Financial Information ◽  
Performance Variables ◽  
Csr Reporting ◽  
Eu Directive ◽  
Big 4 ◽  
The Eu

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting has been subject of various discussions of academicians and accounting practitioners. Although the importance of CRS reporting is not under question, the quality of disclosed non-financial information is still under review. In the light of the new Serbian Law on Accounting (Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia 73/2019) and EU Directive 2014/95 requirements regarding non-financial information, this article investigates the state of non-financial reporting development in Serbian companies in the pre-EU Directive period in order to give suggestions to policymakers how to establish and structure the implementation of the EU Directive and expected challenges on this path. The current state of development of non-financial activities is measured by using content analysis and by creating a non-financial reporting index, namely the CSR index for the Serbian companies listed at Belgrade Stock Exchange. CSR index has been corelated with accounting variables (size of the company, auditor type (non/Big 4), revenue and financial results) in order to get deeper understanding of its value drivers.  Serbian companies, listed as large, audited by Big 4 and with better financial performance variables, are companies with the higher value of the CSR index and have a higher quality of non -financial reporting. Big companies can serve as a benchmark for the rest of the companies in the economy, but also those companies will have fewer challenges in the EU non-financial Directive implementation in the post-Directive period. Therefore, Serbian policymakers should focus their attention and implementation procedures on the rest of the economy struggling with the non-financial reporting.

“Sustainability of Information” as a New Subject in University Degrees in Business Management and Administration: Reporting of Non-financial Information — Spanish Case

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 501-516
Author(s):  
María Ángela Jiménez Montañés ◽  
◽  
Susana Villaluenga de Gracia
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Business Management ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Business Administration ◽  
Financial Information ◽  
Learning Theories ◽  
National Agency ◽  
Royal Decree ◽  
Eu Directive ◽  
Knowledge Competencies

The implementation of curricula of degree, within the framework of the European space of higher education (EEES) has been a substantial change in University learning. The student spent acquire knowledge, competencies, being considered as “an identifiable and measurable set of knowledge, attitudes, values and skills related that allow satisfactory performance in real-life situations of work, according to the standards used in the occupational area” (Van-der Hofstadt & Gómez, 2013, p. 30). More specifically, we talk about generic skills, which are the cognitive, social, emotional and ethical (initiative, effort with the quality, liability, etc.) of transferable character that constitute “knowledge be” in vocational training of the University; and specific competencies in the various degrees and disciplines, allowing to specify functions and professional profiles to form. The degree of management and business administration, general objective is to train professionals and experts in the knowledge and use of processes, procedures, and practices employed in organizations. This overall objective implies to consider the interrelationships between the different parts of the Organization and its relationship with the environment. Studies administration and business management are aimed at learning theories, models and tools applicable to the processes of decision and management organizations. According to the book white of the title of the degree in economics and business, published by the national agency of evaluation and quality, distinguish between specific objectives in the field of knowledge and specific objectives in the field of competences and skills. Focusing on the latter, and in accordance with the Subject Benchmark Statements of General Business and Management, published by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education in the United Kingdom, the specific objectives in the field of skills and abilities that we focus the work would empower the student to it raise the ethical exercise of the profession, assuming social responsibility in decision-making. In this environment, it is necessary to consider the implementation of the 2014/95/EU Directive on disclosure of non-financial information and information on diversity of certain large companies and certain groups resulted in the publication of the Royal Decree 18/2017, of 24 November, whereby amending the commercial code, the consolidated text of the Capital Companies Act approved by Royal Legislative Decree 1/2010 of 2 July and the law 22/2015, 20 July audit of accounts , in the field of non-financial information and diversity. This new disclosure requirement for companies leads us to consider the need to introduce a transversal subject in the curricula of students in economics and management and business administration studies, in order to acquire the skills necessary in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), to produce the new business reports.

BIOETHICAL AND LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE USE OF ANIMALS FOR SCIENTIFIC PURPOSES

2020 ◽  
pp. 10-15
Author(s):  
D. A. Lebedeva ◽  
Yu. A. Shcheglov
Keyword(s):  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Modern Concept ◽  
Member States ◽  
Ethical Attitude ◽  
Eu Directive ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Bioethics ◽  
The Eu

This work scrutinizes modern bioethical concepts of the use of animals for scientific purposes, as well as legal aspects of its use. Initially, the authors present a brief excursion into the history of bioethics and then focus on the modern concept of ethical attitude to the animals used for scientific purposes. The authors analyze the EU Directive on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes, as well as the EAEU acts and by-laws of the EAEU member states, and conclude that it is necessary to adopt a supranational act within the EAEU that will regulate the use of animals for scientific purposes in accordance with the principles of reduction, replacement and refinement.

Medical Device Regulation: Requirements for Dental Professionals Who Prescribe and Manufacture Custom-Made Devices

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 64-88
Author(s):  
James I. J. Green
Keyword(s):  
Medical Device ◽  
Medical Devices ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
Eu Directive ◽  
Custom Made ◽  
Dental Setting ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Dental Professionals ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Medical Device Regulation

A custom-made device (CMD) is a medical device intended for the sole use of a particular patient. In a dental setting, CMDs include prosthodontic devices, orthodontic appliances, bruxism splints, speech prostheses and devices for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea, trauma prevention and orthognathic surgery facilitation (arch bars and interocclusal wafers). Since 1993, the production and provision of CMDs have been subject to European Union (EU) Directive 93/42/EEC (Medical Device Directive, MDD) given effect in the UK by The Medical Devices Regulations 2002 (Statutory Instrument 2002/618), and its subsequent amendments. Regulation (EU) 2017/745 (Medical Device Regulation, EU MDR) replaces the MDD and the other EU Directive pertaining to Medical Devices, Council Directive 90/385/EEC (Active Implantable Medical Device Directive, AIMDD). The EU MDR was published on 5 April 2017, came into force on 25 May 2017 and, following a three-year transition period was due to be fully implemented and repeal the MDD on 26 May 2020, but was deferred until 26 May 2021 due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In the UK, in preparation for the country’s planned departure from the EU, the EU MDR, with necessary amendments, was transposed into UK law (Medical Devices (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, UK MDR). The UK left the Union on 31 January 2020 and entered a transition period that ended on 31 December 2020, meaning that, from 1 January 2021, dental professionals in Great Britain who prescribe and manufacture CMDs are mandated to do so in accordance with the new legislation while Northern Ireland remains in line with the EU legislation and implementation date. This paper sets out the requirements that relate to the production and provision of CMDs in a UK dental setting.

Assessment of the Culture of Care working with laboratory animals by using a comprehensive survey tool

2021 ◽  
pp. 002367722110144
Author(s):  
Thomas Bertelsen ◽  
Kirstine Øvlisen
Keyword(s):  
Performance Indicators ◽  
Essential Elements ◽  
Laboratory Animals ◽  
Survey Tool ◽  
Culture Of Care ◽  
Eu Directive ◽  
Comprehensive Picture ◽  
Comprehensive Survey ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Eu

The term Culture of Care, within the scientific community using laboratory animals, is being used more and more frequently after it was introduced in the EU Directive 2010/63/EU, where it is phrased as a ‘climate of care’, which became effective in national legislation from January 2013. However, there is a risk that the term could become a meaningless phrase if no agreed local definition of the term exists at the animal facility (called establishment in the EU Directive). This paper presents a comprehensive survey tool that provides a means to describe what the Culture of Care in an establishment looks like. The tool is one of the elements that can contribute to the overall picture of the culture; however, it cannot stand alone. Together with an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Culture of Care (e.g. key performance indicators) and a description of the outcomes and achievements in terms of animal welfare and the 3Rs (Replace, Reduce, Refine), the survey tool will constitute a comprehensive picture. The survey tool offers a multilevel and comprehensive view of different subcultures, presenting details on mindset and behaviour of the employees and the different relations within the culture, thus enabling the initiation of improvement projects if required. The tool addresses essential elements of a co-operative culture in terms of what we think, what we do and how we work together.

scholarly journals Realizing the Social Dimension of EU Coastal Water Management

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2261
Author(s):  
David Langlet ◽  
Aron Westholm
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Waters ◽  
Spatial Planning ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Current System ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Eu Directive ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Eu

In the last 20 years, the EU has adopted some rather ambitious pieces of legislation with the aim to achieve a good environmental status in freshwater and marine ecosystems. Both the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) have a strong focus on the natural environment and biological criteria for assessing the status of the relevant ecosystems. In the same time period, much research on environmental governance has focused on the interconnectedness of social systems and ecosystems, so-called social-ecological systems (SES). While having high aspirations, the legal frameworks underpinning current EU water and marine management do not necessarily reflect the advances of contemporary science relating to SES. Using the geographical intersection of the two directives, i.e., coastal waters as a focal point, the paper explores the inchoate integration of social and ecological perspectives in the EU marine governance. What are the main challenges for the current EU legal regimes for managing coastal waters in a way that builds on the understanding of social and ecological systems as interconnected? Having explored the two directives, the paper introduces the possibility of using marine spatial planning (MSP), and the EU directive establishing a framework for maritime spatial planning (MSPD) as a bridge between the social and ecological dimensions and discusses what implications this would have for the current system for governing coastal waters in Europe.

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