The European capital market is undergoing a fundamental transformation, with the European Single Access Point (ESAP) project at its core. This centralized digital platform will provide free and unified access to both financial and non-financial corporate information across the European Union. In the Czech Republic, the legislative framework has been firmly established through Act No. 317/2025 Coll., with the Czech National Bank and the Chamber of Auditors of the Czech Republic (KA ČR) designated as the principal national collection bodies.
What Does the Phased Timeline Bring?
The implementation of the system has been divided into several stages to allow the market sufficient time to adapt technologically:
- July 2026 (Phase 1): Launch of mandatory data collection. The first wave covers the Prospectus Regulation, the Short Selling Regulation, and the Transparency Directive.
- July 2027: Official launch of the platform by ESMA and public access to the data.
- January 2028 (Phase 2): A key milestone for accounting professionals. Sustainability reports (CSRD) and data required under the Accounting Directive will be integrated into the system.
- January 2030 (Phase 3): Full involvement of the auditing profession, including the mandatory publication of transparency reports by audit firms.
Key Impacts on Auditors and Accounting Professionals
While ESAP does not introduce new reporting obligations in terms of content, it fundamentally changes the technological format and distribution of data. All reports and financial statements will need to be prepared and submitted exclusively in machine-readable formats (XBRL, Inline XBRL, XML) and accompanied by the required metadata.
Audit firms will be required to obtain and maintain a Legal Entity Identifier (LEI). In addition, the Chamber of Auditors of the Czech Republic is modernizing the Register of Auditors in line with its new role as a collection body. The transition to data-driven reporting is already underway, and digital readiness is becoming an essential prerequisite for professional practice.
