We risk turning our European “moral leadership” into an end-in-itself bureaucracy, says the Director of the Entrepreneurship Center at BIA
“Corporate Sustainability as a Strategy for the Future” was the theme of a discussion forum organized by the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, held today (12 November 2025) in Sofia.
The event included several sessions, namely:
Opening session: What are the most current developments regarding the adoption and implementation of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the Omnibus process, and the EU SME Relief Package, and how do they affect local businesses?
Information session: The VSME Standard (Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard): implementing the European SME Recommendation, overview of the EFRAG ecosystem
Scientific session: Achieving sustainability: Data from the first year of CSRD implementation
Training session: SMEs and sustainability reporting – incentives, good practices, and lessons learned
Among the speakers were: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Marina Stefanova – Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Sofia University “St. Kl. Ohridski”, Hristina Pendicheva from the Ministry of Finance, Ilka Kiselova from the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, Evgenia Kyuchukova from IDES, Elisa Bevilacqua from the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG), Silvia Todorova – Director of the Entrepreneurship Center at BIA, Luc Hendricks – former Director for Enterprise Policy and External Relations at SME United, Alexander Peev – General Manager “Corporate and Social Responsibility” at UBB AD, and Maria Alexiou – member of EFRAG SR Lab and the EFRAG Secretariat, founder and member of CSR Hellas and UNGCNH.
In her speech to the event participants, Silvia Todorova stated:
Today we are facing a paradox: Europe, which wants to be a global leader, is creating regulatory chaos in its own backyard. And this is not just a matter of deadlines. It is a fundamental problem of trust. When standards for large companies are constantly changing, this creates a sense of unpredictability and unreliability among small suppliers. SMEs are not afraid of reporting; they are afraid of the administrative trap and of the possibility that their investment in sustainability will turn out to be useless.
While Brussels is struggling to impose the most detailed and burdensome rules, the rest of the world – Canada, Australia, Japan – is acting more flexibly and faster with the ISSB standards. We risk turning our European “moral leadership” into an end-in-itself bureaucracy that isolates our SMEs from global value chains. When the EU insists on too many unique requirements, it not only complicates things for the big players, but also penalizes small exporters who will need to report under two or three different frameworks. Our role, including through our partnership and membership in BusinessEurope, is to advocate for pragmatic harmonization with ISSB so that Bulgarian SMEs do not become victims of European ambition.
Our advice is not simply “start somewhere,” but “start with what is certain.” At the moment, VSME is the only stable, finalized, and proportionate tool in the entire European ESG ecosystem. Everything else is changing. This is why VSME should be seen as an insurance policy for your company. It ensures that the data you begin collecting today will be accepted and recognized by your clients and partners. Use VSME to control your own risk.
Using VSME enables owners and managers to better understand the material flows within their enterprises – where the biggest energy consumption occurs, where waste is generated, and how to optimize raw materials. The benefits are real – not just a matter of regulatory compliance, but of better control, reduced costs, and increased efficiency.
You do not need to start with something big or complex. It is enough to conduct a materiality assessment, begin collecting and analyzing a limited set of key data, and strengthen internal capacity – even if it is just one person coordinating the process.
But most importantly, do not work in isolation. Precisely in times of regulatory chaos and lack of trust, your network is your safety net. Start working actively with your sectoral and employer organizations, such as BIA. We are here to translate the complex European language into a clear business language.
