Austria enacts Sustainability Reporting Act to align national corporate regulations with updated European Union environmental standards

Austria implements the Sustainability Reporting Act (NaBeG), transposing the EU CSRD with updated thresholds for large companies and non-EU subsidiaries.

By: AXL Media

Published: Mar 2, 2026, 9:58 AM EST

Source: The information in this article was sourced from Freshfields

Phased Implementation of Sustainability Reporting

The Austrian Sustainability Reporting Act, known as Nachhaltigkeitsberichtsgesetz or NaBeG, entered into force on 19 February 2026. This legislation follows a phased approach to align with the European Union structure for corporate sustainability reporting. The law applies immediately to large public interest entities that must produce reports for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2024. This structured rollout ensures that companies already subject to similar mandates lead the transition toward more comprehensive disclosures.

Threshold Adjustments and Streamlining Measures

In response to the EU Sustainability Omnibus Package, the Austrian framework incorporates significantly higher applicability thresholds. Starting in the 2027 financial year, mandatory reporting will only apply to companies with more than 1,000 employees and a net turnover exceeding 450 million Euros. These adjustments effectively exempt many smaller entities from the complex reporting requirements initially proposed. Small and medium sized entities have been fully removed from the mandatory reporting scope, though they may choose to opt into the regime voluntarily.

Requirements for Non-European Subsidiaries

The newly introduced Drittlandunternehmen-Berichterstattungsgesetz addresses the reporting requirements for Austrian subsidiaries of groups headquartered outside the European Union. These obligations are triggered if a non-EU parent company generates more than 450 million Euros in turnover within the EU across the previous two years. Currently, the Austrian thresholds for individual subsidiaries remain lower than the updated EU standard of 200 million Euros, a discrepancy that the legislature is expected to resolve through future harmonizing amendments.