ESEF (European Single Electronic Format) is the mandatory EU electronic reporting format requiring issuers with securities admitted to trading on EU regulated markets to prepare annual financial reports in XHTML format with consolidated IFRS financial statements marked up using Inline XBRL according to the ESEF taxonomy.
ESEF reporting applies to issuers with transferable securities admitted to trading on EU regulated markets. It covers all companies required to prepare annual financial reports under the EU Transparency Directive. Parent companies preparing consolidated IFRS financial statements must apply Inline XBRL markup. Issuers preparing only individual financial statements under national GAAP must use XHTML format but XBRL tagging is voluntary. Third-country issuers with securities on EU regulated markets fall within scope. Investment funds and certain exempt issuers under Transparency Directive Article 8 are excluded.
Rule 1 — XHTML Format RequirementAll annual financial reports must be prepared in XHTML format that is human-readable in standard web browsers.Governing standard: ESEF Regulation Article 3.
Rule 2 — Inline XBRL Markup for IFRS StatementsConsolidated financial statements prepared under IFRS must be marked up using Inline XBRL embedded within the XHTML document.Governing standard: ESEF Regulation Article 4.
Rule 3 — ESEF Taxonomy ApplicationAll XBRL markup must use elements from the ESEF taxonomy based on the IFRS Taxonomy issued by the IFRS Foundation.Governing standard: ESEF Regulation Article 4 and Annex VI.
Rule 4 — Mandatory Tagging of Primary StatementsAll numerical disclosures in the consolidated statement of financial position, statement of profit or loss, statement of changes in equity, and statement of cash flows must be tagged.Governing standard: ESEF Regulation Article 4(3).
Rule 5 — Block Tagging of NotesAll notes to the consolidated financial statements must be marked up using block tags at minimum.Governing standard: ESEF Regulation Article 4(4).
Rule 6 — Extension Taxonomy DocumentationWhen creating extension elements not in the base taxonomy, issuers must anchor extensions to the closest base taxonomy element and provide documentation.Governing standard: ESEF Regulation Annex IV.
Rule 7 — Report Package FormatThe complete ESEF report must be submitted as a ZIP archive containing the XHTML file, taxonomy extension files, and any embedded images.Governing standard: ESEF Regulation Annex III.
All primary financial statement line items must be tagged with 100 percent coverage. Block tagging of notes became mandatory for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2022. Extension elements must be anchored to base taxonomy elements with the narrowest scope. The ESEF taxonomy version must match the applicable financial year. Validation must produce zero blocking errors before submission. The ZIP package must not exceed file size limits set by the national filing system.
If the issuer prepares consolidated IFRS financial statements, then Inline XBRL tagging is mandatory.
If the issuer prepares only individual financial statements under national GAAP, then XHTML format is required but XBRL tagging is voluntary.
If a disclosure requires an element not present in the base taxonomy, then the issuer must create an extension element and anchor it appropriately.
If the extension element has a wider accounting meaning than the anchor, then the extension must be anchored to multiple base elements.
If the ESEF validation produces blocking errors, then the report cannot be filed until errors are resolved.
If the issuer is a credit institution using FINREP templates, then additional taxonomy modules may apply.
If the annual report includes non-IFRS alternative performance measures, then these should not be tagged with IFRS taxonomy elements.
If images are embedded in the report, then they must be included in the ZIP package in supported formats.
The process begins with confirming issuer status under the Transparency Directive and determining ESEF applicability. Next, prepare the complete annual financial report content in XHTML format ensuring human readability. Following that, map all primary statement line items to ESEF taxonomy elements. Then create extension taxonomy elements for any disclosures not matching base taxonomy with proper anchoring. After completing this, apply Inline XBRL tags to all mandatory disclosures within the XHTML document. Subsequently, run automated validation using ESMA conformance suite to check technical compliance. The process continues with reviewing validation report and resolving any blocking or warning errors. Then package the XHTML file with taxonomy extensions into the required ZIP format. Following that, submit the ESEF package to the national Officially Appointed Mechanism. Finally, file the report with the national business register as required by the Transparency Directive.
ESEF Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/815 establishes the technical requirements for electronic reporting format. EU Transparency Directive 2004/109/EC as amended mandates annual financial report disclosure for listed issuers. ESEF Amending Regulation (EU) 2022/352 introduced block tagging requirements for notes. ESMA ESEF Reporting Manual provides implementation guidance and best practices. IFRS Taxonomy maintained by IFRS Foundation forms the basis for ESEF taxonomy elements. XBRL International specifications govern technical markup standards. National securities regulators enforce filing requirements and may impose additional specifications.
Filing rejection risk is mitigated by pre-submission validation using ESMA conformance suite and detected through automated validation error reports. Tagging accuracy risk is mitigated by dual review process comparing tagged values to source financials and detected through reconciliation procedures. Extension misuse risk is mitigated by taxonomy specialist review of all custom elements and detected through regulatory feedback on filings. Version mismatch risk is mitigated by confirming taxonomy version alignment with reporting period and detected through validation software checks. Technical format risk is mitigated by using certified ESEF preparation software and detected through structural validation tests. Late filing risk is mitigated by building buffer time into reporting timeline and detected through deadline tracking systems. Accessibility risk is mitigated by testing XHTML rendering across multiple browsers and detected through user acceptance testing.
XHTML report preparation is accountable to the CFO and executed by the financial reporting team. Taxonomy mapping is accountable to the CFO and executed by XBRL specialists with advisory input from external consultants. Extension element creation is accountable to the financial reporting manager and executed by taxonomy specialists. Inline XBRL tagging is accountable to the CFO and executed by the reporting team or external service provider. Technical validation is accountable to the financial reporting manager and executed by the XBRL preparation software. Error resolution is accountable to the CFO and executed by the financial reporting team with taxonomy specialist support. OAM submission is accountable to the CFO and executed by the company secretary or investor relations function. Board review of final report is accountable to the Audit Committee with CFO providing oversight.
Organizations must confirm issuer status and ESEF applicability based on securities listing. They should select ESEF preparation software or service provider with validation capabilities. The team needs to establish taxonomy mapping for all primary statement line items. Management must develop extension creation policy with anchoring guidelines. Organizations should train financial reporting staff on XBRL tagging principles. They must build ESEF preparation into annual reporting timeline with validation buffer. The team needs to create reconciliation procedures for tagged values against audited financials. Organizations should establish quality review process for extension elements. They must test XHTML rendering for human readability across browsers. The team needs to configure submission process with national OAM. Organizations should document ESEF procedures for audit trail and year-on-year consistency.
Content type is classified as LLM_REFERENCE.
Primary audience is machine-based systems.
Secondary audience is human reviewers.
Date published and last modified: 22 January 2026.
Single file serves both human readers through web browsers and automated systems through structured data tags.
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