The proposals focus on cutting duplicate reporting, simplifying supplier questionnaires, improving data exchange and giving companies a more stable compliance framework.

The Hungarian Sustainability Professionals Network launched a multi-round consultation at an Oct. 15 professional breakfast at the Corvin Dumaszínház in Budapest’s District VIII. Around 70 sustainability professionals took part. Balázs Major, representing the ministry’s SME policy area, outlined the expected timetable for amendments, according to the organizers.

HSP Network said the ministry is considering two more limited changes before the end of 2026. One would remove domestic provisions for ESG rating providers where they overlap with European Union rules, while the other would ease cybersecurity requirements applying to ESG software. A broader amendment package is expected in spring 2027, and the ministry is accepting professional proposals at [email protected].

The planned revision comes after several changes to Hungary’s ESG regime since the adoption of the 2023 ESG Act. Current guidance from the Supervisory Authority for Regulatory Affairs says the scope was narrowed in 2025 so that, among other criteria, the reporting obligation applies to large companies in specified sectors with annual net revenue above HUF 90 billion and more than 500 employees. Public-interest SMEs were removed from the directly covered group.

A roundtable with Major, Zsombor Barta of the National Council for Sustainable Development, and András Balásfalvi-Kiss, ESG leader at Grant Thornton, focused on one of the business community’s most persistent complaints: companies are often asked for similar sustainability information under different regulatory and supervisory regimes, but in different formats and through separate procedures.

Participants argued that a common ESG data set aligned more closely with European standards could reduce that duplication. In practice, the same core information could then be reused for bank risk assessments, supplier due diligence and other sustainability-related obligations instead of being collected repeatedly for different systems.

Introducing Incentives

The proposals discussed at the meeting also included simplifying the supplier questionnaire, reviewing sector exemptions that participants consider unjustified, improving data-exchange functions on the central ESG platform, reshaping regulation of the advisory market and introducing economic incentives that recognize stronger sustainability performance.

The workshop then moved from diagnosis to a draft position paper. The document, “Recommendations for Rethinking the Corporate Sustainability Framework,” was prepared by Denxpert and reviewed and expanded by experts from Grant Thornton, Scale Impact and HSP Network.

Participants broadly supported reducing parallel reporting, adding economic incentives and ending the registration requirement for advisory contracts, while the supplier questionnaire and the accreditation of ESG consultants generated more debate.

Stability was another recurring concern. Companies are already preparing reporting work for the 2026 financial year, participants noted, which raises a practical question about when any spring 2027 changes would become applicable. Introducing new requirements only months before reporting deadlines could force businesses to rebuild processes they have already started.

Róbert Szücs-Winkler, founder and managing director of Denxpert, argued that the value of the system will depend on preserving the knowledge companies have already built rather than repeatedly resetting compliance procedures.

Asset Rather Than Obligation

He said foreign customers increasingly expect Hungarian suppliers to provide transparent supply-chain information and reliable carbon-footprint data, meaning that well-designed sustainability systems can become a competitive asset rather than simply an administrative obligation.

Even if the national rules are simplified, Hungarian suppliers working for international groups may continue to face data requests linked to European sustainability standards and the reporting requirements of their customers. For companies operating across several markets, the more compatible the Hungarian system is with European data structures, the lower the cost of maintaining parallel processes.

HSP Network says it wants the lobbying process itself to be more transparent. Gábor Lévai, the network’s leader and coordinator of the proposal package, said stakeholders should be able to see which comments were submitted, where agreement was reached, and why particular changes made it into the final text. The aim is to send the ministry a package that has been publicly debated and tested against practical experience.

To that end, HSP Network has opened a public consultation page where professionals and organizations can comment on the document and the proposals discussed at the meeting. The first consultation round was open until Tuesday, Oct. 27, with comments submitted under the participant’s name and organization.

The organizers plan to publish the next version of the position paper by mid-November. A concrete draft of proposed legislative text would then follow and be opened for another two-week consultation. Professional organizations and individual experts can comment on the final position before the ministry receives the signed document and accompanying draft legal language in mid-December.

The timetable sets out a clear route toward the planned spring amendment. Still, the final scope and effective dates will depend on the government’s legislative proposal and the subsequent lawmaking process. For businesses, the central issue will be whether the next version of the ESG framework can reduce administrative duplication without discarding systems and expertise that companies have already invested in building.

This article was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of October 30, 2026.