On the occasion of the Annual Conference of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Dublin, Commissioner McCreevy outlined the economic challenges the EU faces, in particular in the areas of accounting and auditing, and corporate governance.
In Accounting the European Union opted for international accounting standards and regulators are striving to find the right balance, endeavouring to improve controls but not stifle business. Completeness, consistency and accuracy of financial statements are necessary, as is honesty in the probity of the accounts.
Reaching IAS/US GAAP technical convergence would be a significant step forward. The SEC and the European Commission reached an understanding on a roadmap to eliminate the reconciliation requirement as early as 2007 – which is my clear preference - and by no later than 2009.
The SEC has highlighted inter alia the importance of consistent IAS application in the EU for the removal of the reconciliation requirement. This will be key for whether the requirement is removed sooner rather than later.
Mr McCreevy concluded with two main objectives:
First, to work for globally accepted international standards both in accounting and auditing, with the participation of as many countries as possible adopted by standard setters which are independent, but accountable and in touch with business reality; and
Secondly, to work towards the convergence and equivalence of global accounting standards in particular by ensuring that the EU and US deliver on the road-map which has been agreed. I hope that the US will recognise our standards as equivalent sooner rather than later. We all have hard work ahead of us.
Document
© European Commission
Key
Hover over the blue highlighted
text to view the acronym meaning
Hover
over these icons for more information
Comments:
No Comments for this Article