ECB maps the road to integrated reporting
The European Central Bank (ECB) on 8 June announced the main milestones for the roll-out of its Integrated Reporting Framework (IReF), the programme that will consolidate the statistical reporting requirements of euro area banks into a single, standardised framework directly applicable across the euro area, and, in the long term, cut reporting burdens.
Three dates now anchor the timeline: a public consultation on the draft IReF Regulation in the second half of 2027, which will help shape the final legislative proposal; a one-year pilot phase from the second quarter of 2030, in which reporting agents will test their ability to meet the new requirements and iron out structural problems ahead of launch; and the first official IReF reporting in the second quarter of 2031, with a one-year parallel run alongside existing statistical reporting.
The timelines remain subject to adoption of the IReF Regulation, and to keep the dialogue constructive, banks will receive key information on the reporting requirements ahead of the consultation. Interestingly, the ECB also notes that current geopolitical developments have prompted a stronger reliance on EU-based technology to strengthen Europe’s digital sovereignty, with the IReF to be implemented within a European cloud.
A comprehensive implementation plan is also in preparation, setting out how individual national collection frameworks will evolve under the IReF and how residual country-specific requirements will be modelled consistently with it – a crucial detail for banks currently juggling divergent national regimes.
The IReF is the first tangible step in the wider integration of statistical, prudential and resolution reporting in the EU, coordinated by the Joint Bank Reporting Committee (JBRC), which began work on a common data dictionary with the banking industry in late 2025 and is defining a long-term strategy for the broader European integrated reporting system. The goal of collect once, define consistently, use many times – is one we wholeheartedly endorse, even if we are acutely conscious of how complicated the task ahead will be.
Read more here.
