Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-03-11-Speech-1-080"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20020311.6.1-080"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
". – Mr President, thank you for giving me the floor on this subject, which is of the highest importance, even though it may not attract publicly the attention which it deserves. I should like to start by thanking Parliament for the interest it has shown in this report, and in particular the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market and its rapporteur, Lord Inglewood, and also Mrs Thyssen, for their excellent work.
Rapid progress has been made and I hope that the present proposal may be adopted in a single reading; several Members have already referred to that possibility; and the Commission hopes that indeed will be the case. If we succeed in this it will give a strong political signal that the European Union is not only serious about achieving an integrated capital market by the year 2005, as requested by the European Council in Lisbon two years ago, but also ready to lead on the development of international accounting standards. Comparable, transparent financial reporting is an essential building block for the realisation of integrated, competitive and attractive EU capital markets to complement the single currency and so strengthen the European economy. That will also show, in particular in our relationship with the United States, how determined we are about the way we want to see things develop in future. It should pave the way for the United States to accept international accounting standards for listing purposes. I shall certainly be pressing the case when I visit Washington in the second half of May.
After the collapse of Enron, concern has grown, certainly in the United States but also in Europe, about the quality of financial reporting by listed companies. One must of course avoid knock-on effects that might lead to a loss of confidence among investors, shareholders and other stakeholders, including employees, in the functioning of our capital markets. Long before Enron started to make headlines in the press, Europe made the choice of international accounting standards of high quality with the potential to become truly global standards. High-quality accounting standards are the bedrock of good financial reporting and the principles-based approach of IAS will ensure that accounts reflect economic reality, thus restoring investors' confidence that things are really the way they look. The aim of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) to minimise detailed rules and exemptions will defeat a culture that boils down to "where does it say that I cannot?", one which the many thousands of pages of rules-based standards of the U.S. GAAP have fostered.
IAS will also provide the relevant and reliable information which investors and other stakeholders need to make meaningful cross-border and cross-sector comparisons throughout the European Union. Listed European companies have long been awaiting the signal which this Parliament is now ready to give, and for EU companies it clearly means that things have started in earnest and that they must start preparing a switch-over to international accounting standards without wasting any time. This major achievement also demonstrates that our institutions can work closely together when the time comes to deliver, and I greatly welcome this. In this respect, and in response to the remarks made by Lord Inglewood and Mrs Thyssen and also, I believe, by Mr Lehne, may I underline that the commitments undertaken by the Commission on 5 February, 2002 in President Romano Prodi's declaration to this Parliament on the implementation of financial services legislation fully apply to the present proposals as well. That is the case and will remain so.
Those commitments apply as well to the present proposal and a clear reference to this is made in Amendment No 4 as adopted by the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market on 26 February 2002. The Commission can accept all the amendments adopted unanimously by the Legal Affairs Committee, notwithstanding the repeal of Amendment No 6, which amounts more or less to the repetition of a recital.
Before I conclude, may I reply to three specific points made this evening. Firstly, on languages, it is indeed important that the IAS endorsed by the European Union are made available in all official languages – at the moment 11, but pretty soon 19 – and then become part of Community law.
Secondly, with regard to SMEs, a point raised in particular by Mrs Thyssen, the Commission will engage in a debate about the accounting requirements for small and medium enterprises in the context of the modernisation of the accounting directives, for which the Commission will officially present a proposal before the summer.
Lastly, there is the question of the consequences of the Enron debacle. I am planning to engage in a debate about the consequences of that debacle for auditing and we are, at present, discussing with Member States a document on auditor independence which I am sure Mr Lehne will be interested to read. As soon it is available we will make it available to Members of this Parliament.
In conclusion, Mr President, a strong vote in favour of this proposal would constitute a major contribution to international and European harmonisation in the accounting field by promoting a single set of accounting standards, namely the IAS. Adopting IAS for Europe would offer increased comparability of financial information to investors and shareholders and would contribute to a return of confidence in the efficiency and effectiveness of our financial markets. It is an opportunity for European leadership which I am sure Parliament will want to seize, as do the Commission and Council."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples