The juridification of social accounting and the transposition process of the non-financial reporting directive 2014/95/EU

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to critically analyse the transposition implications of Union Directive 2014/95. This Directive identified the need to raise the transparency of the social and environmental information provided by the undertakings to a similarly high level across all Member States. Design/methodology/approach The paper considers how the European Member States of the European Union (EU) have transposed Directive 2014/95 into their regulations. The focus is on the juridification of social accounting in the pursuit of creating an overlapping consensus through Habermas’s concept of internal colonisation. The paper uses qualitative content analysis to scrutinise the national laws that transpose Directive 2014/95, discussing both what has been accomplished and what can be achieved by the release of future legislative provisions. Findings Despite the aim of Directive 2014/95 to create a common language for disclosing non-financial information, this study shows an implementation gap among and between Member States and an inconsistent picture of the employment of this Directive. Its implementation in the 28 European countries was considered a process of colonisation in implementing Union directives among European undertakings. However, the implementation process, which exemplifies Habermas’s juridification, has failed due to the lack of balance between moral discourse and actions. Originality/value This paper contributes to the ongoing debates concerning the implementation of mandatory disclosure of environmental and social information in the EU Member States, promoting new directions for the EU’s democratic laws on social accounting. In addition, it offers an example of how internal colonisation only catalyses effects when moral laws are legitimised through the provision of procedures.

EU regulations on reporting sustainable development as a determinant of limiting the environmental pressure of chemical enterprises in Poland

“…There are also no forward-looking disclosures, • reliability of the presented non-financial information, including Krasodomska and Zeniuk (2021), Agostini et al (2022), andJaber (2021). The publication shows that ensuring credibility requires the development of standards for reporting and auditing the information provided, • the impact of the Directive on the transparency and comparability of presented information, among others: Moggi et al (2023), Venturelli et al (2022), Doni et al (2019), Aguado-Correa et al (2023, Bauer et al (2020). The results reflected diversity rather than uniformity in disclosures, • factors determining differences in the quality and quantity of disclosures, including: Zarzycka and Krasodomska (2021), , Panfilo and Krasodomska (2022), Dyczkowska and Fijałkowska (2022).…”