In recent months, a trend has become increasingly visible for many European SMEs.
A client asks you to complete a 40-question ESG questionnaire.
A bank requests information on energy consumption and carbon emissions.
A tender now includes a section on social and environmental practices.
For many SME leaders, the situation is confusing.
They are not directly subject to the CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive).
They do not have a dedicated sustainability team.
And yet, requests for ESG information are multiplying.
Why is this pressure appearing now?
The answer lies in the evolution of the European regulatory framework and the gradual transformation of large companies’ value chains.
Indirect regulatory pressure that cascades down to SMEs
Most SMEs are not directly covered by the reporting obligations under the CSRD, which applies mainly to large companies and listed entities.
However, this directive has a major consequence: companies subject to the CSRD must now analyse and publish information concerning their entire value chain.
In other words, they must collect data from their suppliers, partners and service providers.
This means thousands of SMEs are now being asked to provide information on:
- their greenhouse gas emissions
- their energy consumption
- their social policies
- their governance practices
- their relationships with their suppliers.
- This dynamic is confirmed by several recent studies.
According to the KPMG ESG Assurance Maturity Index 2024, 63% of large companies now obtain assurance on all or part of their ESG information, compared with 50% the previous year. This trend strengthens the need for these companies to collect reliable, structured and verifiable data from their ecosystem.
At the same time, discussions around the European “Omnibus” legislative package presented in 2025, aimed at simplifying certain CSRD and ESRS obligations, have raised many questions among businesses.
However, even if some reporting requirements may evolve, the logic of transparency across the value chain remains at the heart of European regulation.
In practice, this means large companies will continue to request ESG information from their partners and suppliers in order to:
- analyse their sustainability risks
- meet the requirements of investors and banks
- secure their own non-financial reporting.
In this context, SMEs become an essential source of information for large companies, but also for financial institutions, buyers and commercial partners.
Banks also play a decisive role
Another factor explains the rise in ESG questionnaires: the financial sector.
European banks must now integrate ESG risks into their credit risk management.
European supervisory authorities, notably the European Banking Authority (EBA), require financial institutions to identify and assess the climate and environmental risks associated with their loan portfolios.
To do this, banks need information about their clients.
Some banks now ask SMEs for:
- their energy consumption
- their estimated carbon emissions
- their environmental policies
- their transition plans.
Even when this is not a direct regulatory obligation for the company, this information is gradually becoming a criterion for assessing financial risk.
The proliferation of ESG questionnaires
The result of these developments is very concrete for SMEs: a rapid multiplication of questionnaires.
These questionnaires can come from different sources:
- major corporate clients
- financial institutions
- public tenders
- investors
- insurers.
The problem is that these questionnaires are not harmonised.
Each organisation uses its own format.
Some contain a dozen questions.
Others exceed fifty or sixty questions.
And the topics covered vary widely.
Typical examples of ESG questions sent to SMEs
Here are some examples of questions frequently found in ESG questionnaires.
Environment
- Do you track your energy consumption?
- Do you measure your greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1, 2 or 3)?
- Have you implemented waste reduction actions?
- Do you use renewable energy?
Social
- Do you have an occupational health and safety policy?
- Do you measure workplace accident indicators?
- Do you have a diversity or equal opportunity policy?
Governance
- Is there a code of conduct or ethics charter?
- Have you implemented an internal whistleblowing mechanism?
- How do you manage corruption risks?
Supply chain
- Do you assess the environmental or social practices of your suppliers?
- Do you have ESG criteria in your supplier selection process?
For an SME, responding to this type of questionnaire can quickly become a complex exercise.
The real problem: the absence of an ESG information system
In most cases, SMEs already have some of the information requested.
For example:
- energy bills can be used to calculate energy consumption
- some HR policies already exist
- quality or safety procedures are in place.
The problem is that this information is often:
- scattered across different departments
- unstructured
- rarely documented in an ESG logic.
Each new questionnaire therefore becomes an exercise in reconstruction.
Leaders or administrative managers must search for the information, rephrase it and structure it for each request.
As requests increase, this situation becomes difficult to manage.
A shift towards simplified frameworks for SMEs
Aware of this situation, European institutions have begun working on solutions adapted to SMEs.
It is in this context that the VSME (Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for SMEs) was developed.
This framework aims to provide a simplified structure allowing SMEs to organise the ESG information most frequently requested.
The objective is twofold:
- enable SMEs to respond more easily to requests from their partners
- create a common language between companies.
The VSME is not designed to turn SMEs into large reporting organisations.
It offers rather a core set of essential information.
ESG topics SMEs need to track today
In practice, ESG questionnaires often focus on a limited number of key topics.
Among the most frequent:
Energy consumption
- electricity
- gas
- fuel.
Greenhouse gas emissions
often estimated from energy consumption.
Working conditions
- workplace accidents
- training
- employee wellbeing.
Governance
- ethics code
- corruption prevention
- risk management.
Supply chain
- supplier selection
- social and environmental criteria.
By structuring this information in a simple and coherent way, an SME can respond to a large part of existing questionnaires.
Structure information rather than respond case by case
The proliferation of ESG questionnaires is probably only one stage in a broader transformation.
In the years ahead, requests for sustainability-related information will continue to grow.
The question for SMEs is therefore not only:
How do we respond to the next questionnaire?
But rather:
How do we structure once and for all the information that will be requested regularly?
This is precisely the objective of a minimal ESG system, aligned with the logic of the VSME standard.
Such a system makes it possible to:
- centralise key data
- define a few simple indicators
- document existing practices
- respond more efficiently to external requests.
Towards a pragmatic approach to sustainability for SMEs
Contrary to a common belief, implementing an ESG approach does not always require a complex transformation.
For many SMEs, it is above all about:
- structuring existing information
- defining a few essential indicators
- documenting practices already in place.
This pragmatic approach makes it possible to meet the growing expectations of business partners without unnecessarily burdening the organisation.
Conclusion
The proliferation of ESG questionnaires is not a passing phenomenon.
It reflects a profound transformation in how European markets operate, where sustainability-related information is gradually becoming a normal element of business relationships.
For SMEs, the challenge is not to produce complex reports.
It is above all to structure the key information their partners are already requesting.
In this context, simplified frameworks such as the VSME offer a useful basis for building a proportionate response adapted to the reality of small and medium-sized businesses.
What to do concretely when ESG questionnaires multiply?
For many SMEs, the difficulty is not a lack of commitment.
The difficulty is a lack of structure in the information requested.
Companies often already have some of the necessary elements:
- energy bills
- HR procedures
- supplier management practices
- internal policies.
But this information is not organised in a way that makes it easy to respond to ESG requests.
Result:
each new questionnaire becomes a tedious exercise.
A simple approach: structure the essentials
Rather than producing complex reports, a more pragmatic approach consists of putting in place a minimal core of ESG information, structured around the most frequently requested indicators.
This is precisely the objective of the European VSME standard (Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for SMEs).
This framework was designed to enable SMEs to:
- structure essential ESG information
- respond more easily to questionnaires from clients or banks
- have a common language with their business partners.
Building a “Minimum ESG System”
At Eco Fluent Solutions, I support SMEs in implementing a Minimum ESG System aligned with the logic of the VSME.
The objective is not to create heavy reporting.
It is rather to:
- identify the most frequently requested ESG information
- structure a few key indicators
- document existing practices
- enable the company to respond quickly to external requests.
This approach allows leaders to regain control over ESG questionnaires, without turning their organisation into a reporting department.
Assess your company’s situation
If your company already receives ESG questionnaires from clients, banks or as part of tenders, it may be useful to quickly assess:
- which information is already available
- which data is still missing
- how to structure these elements simply.
You can book an exploratory call to analyse your situation and see how a minimal ESG system based on the VSME could be implemented in your company.
Eco Fluent Solutions is a consultancy specialising in ISO management systems and sustainability governance.
We support SMEs in turning ISO and ESG requirements into operational systems, without over-documentation or unnecessary complexity.
SME support: discover how to structure your responses to ESG and VSME questionnaires.
