The revision of nonfinancial reporting directive. A critical lens on the comparability principle

The launch of the European New Green Deal represents a strategic plan developed in Europe to favor the transition to more sustainable business models. One of the main initiative is represented by the revision of the Directive 95/2014/EU. This revision came in response to several criticisms of the directive's application to European Public Interest Entities, including the low degree of comparability that characterize the resulting nonfinancial declarations. This research paper analyzes how 70 Italian PIEs adhere to the comparability principle when preparing their nonfinancial declarations. Furthermore, a difference-in-differences analysis has been performed to assess the impacts of Directive 95/2014/EU on nonfinancial declarations' comparability. Our results highlight how the comparability of nonfinancial reports is an objective not yet achieved. In this regard, the revision of Directive 95/2014/EU will represent an opportunity for policymakers to address this critical issue.