Applicability checklists
Five-minute yes/no checks to know whether each major EU sustainability rule likely applies to you. Not a legal opinion — an operational starting point.
Why this matters
Most SMEs either over-react (build heavy programs they don't need) or under-react (miss obligations entirely). A quick applicability check fixes both.
Who is concerned?
- Founders, CFOs and operations leads scoping their compliance load.
- Compliance and quality teams prioritizing what to address first.
Key operational implications
- If you answer 'yes' to any item in a checklist, dig deeper for that regulation.
- Run the full applicability assessment for a prioritized action plan.
Common mistakes
Self-assessing once and forgetting
Sourcing, products and customers change. Re-run yearly.
Ignoring indirect exposure
Many SMEs are pulled in via customers, not regulators.
Could CBAM apply to us?
- We import goods into the EU from outside the EU.
- Some imports include iron, steel, aluminium, cement, fertilizers, hydrogen or electricity.
- We act as the declarant of record for at least some shipments.
- Our annual import volume of covered goods is non-trivial (above ~€10k).
- We don't currently collect installation-level emissions from suppliers.
Are we indirectly exposed to CSRD?
- We supply at least one large EU corporate.
- We've received an ESG questionnaire in the last 12 months.
- ESG clauses appear in our customer contracts or tenders.
- Our bank or investors have asked about emissions or sustainability.
- We expect a fundraise, exit or acquisition in the next 24 months.
Do we need packaging data collection?
- We place packaged products on the EU market.
- We design or specify our own packaging.
- We sell across multiple EU member states.
- We don't currently maintain a packaging inventory at SKU level.
- We rely on co-packers or 3PLs for parts of our packaging.
Do we depend on non-EU suppliers?
- More than 20% of our spend goes to non-EU suppliers.
- We rely on a small number of strategic non-EU suppliers.
- Our products contain materials produced outside the EU.
- Our suppliers have not previously shared emissions data.
What companies should do next
- Run each checklist below honestly.
- If anything triggers, run the full Mission17 applicability check.
- Plan the next 90 days around the 1-2 highest-priority regulations.
Mission17 can help with
Operational support
- Full guided applicability assessment in 6 minutes.
- Prioritized action plan based on your actual situation.
- Annual re-assessment to catch changes early.
Get operational
Find out exactly which EU sustainability rules apply to your company — in 6 minutes.
No legal jargon. No long report. A clear, prioritized list of what to do next.