Sustainable Development and the EU Policy on Non-financial Information: An Italian Empirical Analysis

The aim of this study is to examine whether the European Union (EU) Directive on Non Financial Information (NFI) would be capable of increasing corporate transparency and sustainable development. To this end, the study reports the findings of 17interviews with preparers and auditors about the content and reporting methods of NFI, as specified by the Italian regulation. The study finds that preparers and auditors favour many of the requirements introduced by the Italian legislature. In particular, the board's responsibility for NFI, the flexibility in the content and in the reporting method, and the audit of non‐financial statements are regarded as a fruitful approach to disciplining NFI. The study contributions are twofold. First, it extends the so far scant literature on the role of EU policy as a change agent for sustainable development. Second, the study identifies some features of the Italian regulation that may be regarded as fruitful ways to regulate NFI.