The Role of Professional Service Networks in Ensuring Compliance with the CSRD in the Netherlands

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate to what extent professional service networks could help Dutch companies comply with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Due to the shift from voluntary to mandatory sustainability reporting, companies are required to disclose environmental, social, and governance impacts. This study employs a mixed-methods approach, incorporating document analysis and semi-structured interviews with sustainability reporting professionals from both a specific advisory firm and five companies impacted by the CSRD, to explore current reporting practices, identify perceived challenges, and assess the advisory role in facilitating compliance. The key findings show the various challenges which companies face due to the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), also indicating which standards are thought to be the most difficult and tracking their progress toward compliance per ESRS standard. It is interesting to note that the study shows no connection between a company's perceived need for CSRD-specific advice services and how well it performs on these standards. Furthermore, the research distinguishes at least two different categories of companies based on their perspectives towards CSRD compliance; with each category prioritizing different criteria for selecting consulting services.