The Platform on Sustainable Finance publishes preliminary recommendations for technical criteria for the EU Taxonomy

The Platform’s report will support the Commission when developing the environmental delegated act on the taxonomy technical screening criteria for the four (non-climate) remaining environmental objectives covering water, circular economy, pollution prevention, and biodiversity & ecosystems. The report explains the methodology for the selection and prioritisation of the activities and the detailed criteria by activities can be consulted in the annex.

Compliance with the set of technical screening criteria is one of the four conditions to be considered as ‘taxonomy-aligned’. Moreover, the activity also has to demonstrate that it contributes substantially to at least one of the environmental objectives, does no significant harm to any of the other five and comply with minimum social safeguards.

Following this public consultation, the Platform aims to improve the draft report and present the final one to the Commission in November 2021. The Platform’s advice will inform the development of the Commission’s delegated act which is planned to be adopted in the first half of 2022. Further, the Platform will continue drafting the recommendations for additional activities and criteria, which would be addressed in a later update of the environmental delegated act by the Commission. Therefore, the non-inclusion by the Platform in the first batch of priority activities does not imply that the activity will not be considered for inclusion in the EU taxonomy in a second batch. In close collaboration with Orgalim, CECE is checking the proposal with a focus on the criteria identified for the ‘manufacturing of machinery and equipment’ activity (NACE C28) and evaluating its impact on the construction machinery sector.

Finally, as part of their deliverables, The Platform on Sustainable Finance published on 12^th July two draft reports on social taxonomy and on an extended taxonomy to support economic transition to advise the Commission on a potential social and extended environmental Taxonomy, which are also open for feedback until 6^th September 2021.