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Directive 2014/95/EU: Are Italian Companies Already Compliant?

Author

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  • Andrea Venturelli

    (Department of Economic Sciences, University of the Salento, Lecce 73100, Italy)

  • Fabio Caputo

    (Department of Economic Sciences, University of the Salento, Lecce 73100, Italy)

  • Simona Cosma

    (Department of Economic Sciences, University of the Salento, Lecce 73100, Italy)

  • Rossella Leopizzi

    (Department of Economic Sciences, University of the Salento, Lecce 73100, Italy)

  • Simone Pizzi

    (Department of Economic Sciences, University of the Salento, Lecce 73100, Italy)

Abstract

According to Directive 2014/95/EU on disclosure of non-financial information from 2017 onwards, large companies (exceeding 500 employees) headquartered in Member States will be required to provide a series of social, environmental, and governance statements. The Directive was transposed into Italian law by Legislative Decree 254 of 30 December 2016.The aim of this paper is to evaluate the information gap for Italian companies and,consequently,the adjustments required by the new Directive on non-financial information. In order to analyze the level of non-financial and diversity disclosure, we created an assessment model called “Non-financial information score”, which records the required information as a percentage. We apply it to a sample of 223 large companies.The results (with an average NFIscore of about 49%) show that, in spite of what has previously emerged in the European debate about the application of the Directive on the part of large companies, an information gap remains, although the implementation of the directive should help to fill it in the coming years.In this sense, the potential contribution of the EU directive to non-financial disclosure in Italy appears to be greater than we had expected. Thus, in accordance with the literature, this paper appears to confirm the role of regulation in improving the quality of disclosure of non-financial information.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrea Venturelli & Fabio Caputo & Simona Cosma & Rossella Leopizzi & Simone Pizzi, 2017. "Directive 2014/95/EU: Are Italian Companies Already Compliant?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-19, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:8:p:1385-:d:107147
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    2. Cristian Carini & Laura Rocca & Monica Veneziani & Claudio Teodori, 2018. "Ex-Ante Impact Assessment of Sustainability Information–The Directive 2014/95," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-24, February.
    3. Donatella Baiardi & Maria Gaia Soana, 2021. "Macroeconomic and microeconomic environmental and energy policies: are they effective for improving environmental performance of listed companies?," Working Paper series 21-17, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
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    5. Cristina Raluca Gh. Popescu, 2019. "Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Governance and Business Performance: Limits and Challenges Imposed by the Implementation of Directive 2013/34/EU in Romania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-31, September.
    6. Valter Cantino & Alain Devalle & Simona Fiandrino & Donatella Busso, 2019. "The level of compliance with the Italian Legislative Decree No. 254/2016 and its determinants: Insights from Italy," FINANCIAL REPORTING, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2019(1), pages 113-143.
    7. Salvatore Loprevite & Domenico Raucci & Daniela Rupo, 2020. "KPIs Reporting and Financial Performance in the Transition to Mandatory Disclosure: The Case of Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-24, June.
    8. Azilah Kasim & Bussalin Khuadthong & Noormala Jailani & Muhammad Fauzi Mokhtar & Jasmine Zea Raziah Radha Rashid Radha & Maebel Leong, 2022. "The Importance of Community Perspectives on Hotel Community-Related CSR: A Position Paper," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-17, April.
    9. Stefania Veltri & Elena Cristiano & Olga Ferraro, 2023. "Examining the quality of the consolidated mandatory non‐financial statements of a cooperative banking group: A longitudinal analysis," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(4), pages 1573-1587, July.
    10. Encarna Guillamon-Saorin & Magdalena Kapelko & Spiro E. Stefanou, 2018. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Operational Inefficiency: A Dynamic Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-26, July.
    11. Adriana TIRON-TUDOR & Teodora Viorica FĂRCAŞ & Ioana DRAGU & Ecaterina Monica MOISE, 2020. "Non-Financial Reporting in Romania in the pre-Directive 2014/95/EU Period (1990-2013)," CECCAR Business Review, Body of Expert and Licensed Accountants of Romania (CECCAR), vol. 0(5), pages 63-72, May.
    12. Dumitru Valentin-Florentin & Jinga Gabriel & Stănilă Oana Georgiana & Dumitru Mădălina, 2019. "The impact of the European Directive 2014/95/EU on the energy companies’ disclosures," Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, Sciendo, vol. 13(1), pages 268-276, May.
    13. Matteo Molinari & Maria Pia Maraghini & Angelo Riccaboni, 2021. "Reporting di Sostenibilit? e Controllo Manageriale: L?esperienza di Edison S.p.A," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2021(2), pages 61-86.
    14. Chiara Mio & Marco Fasan & Carlo Marcon & Silvia Panfilo, 2021. "Carrot or stick? An empirical analysis of the different implementation strategies of the EU directive on nonfinancial information across Europe," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(6), pages 1591-1605, November.
    15. Simona Fiandrino & Alberto Tonelli, 2021. "A Text-Mining Analysis on the Review of the Non-Financial Reporting Directive: Bringing Value Creation for Stakeholders into Accounting," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-18, January.

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