(fra kommisjonsforordningen)

(1) Issuers of bonds marketed as environmentally sustainable and of sustainability-linked bonds may choose to disclose the information referred to in Article 21 of Regulation 2023/2631 using the common templates. There is no obligation to disclose the information referred to in Article 21 of Regulation 2023/2631 using these common templates. However, if issuers opt for using those templates, they should follow them. Issuers who use the templates remain free to disclose additional information. 

(2) Article 20 of Regulation (EU) 2023/2631 requires the Commission to publish guidelines establishing templates for voluntary pre-issuance disclosures for issuers of bonds marketed as environmentally sustainable and of sustainability-linked bonds. Ensuring consistency between and comparability of the templates published in those guidelines, and the templates that issuers of those bonds should use when they voluntarily disclose post-issuance information, will facilitate the use of the information contained in those template by investors and thus increase transparency. 

(3) To ensure consistency with the disclosures that issuers have to publish for European Green Bonds, the templates for voluntary disclosures of post-issuance information for issuers of bonds marketed as environmentally sustainable and of sustainability-linked bonds build on the relevant sections of the templates for post-issuance disclosures under the European Green Bond Standard. 

(4) Providing clarity for issuers on the use of post-issuance disclosure templates will encourage take-up of those templates, thus helping to enhance transparency and standardisation in the market for sustainable bonds. It is thus necessary to further specify aspects linked to use of those templates. This concerns the frequency at which issuers should publish periodic post-issuance disclosures, which should take into account whether the issuer obtains an external review of the disclosures. 

(5) To provide further clarity for issuers, it is necessary to specify the language to be used for the voluntary disclosures, as well as the means of publication and for how long the disclosed information should remain available. 

(6) To protect investors, it is necessary to specify how issuers should proceed if they need to correct their disclosures.

(7) Article 45 of Regulation (EU) 2023/2631 enables competent authorities to require issuers that use the templates for the voluntary disclosure of post-issuance information to include the elements listed in Article 21 of that Regulation into those templates. To facilitate communication between issuers using those templates and the relevant competent authorities and to facilitate notifications of the publication of voluntary disclosures, the latter should create a contact point,