Introductory text

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Whereas:

The high level of transparency and comparability of financial reporting for all publicly traded Community companies is necessary for building an integrated capital market which operates effectively, smoothly and efficiently.

In order to contribute to a better functioning of the internal market Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council^f1 provides that the companies listed on regulated market are required to prepare their consolidated accounts in accordance with a single set of global accounting standards, commonly refereed to as International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The Regulation, in its recital 10, foresees the creation of an accounting technical committee to provide support and expertise to the Commission in the assessment of international accounting standards.

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) was founded in March 2001 by the organisations representing preparers, users and accountancy professions involved in the financial reporting process; EFRAG provides opinions on whether the standard or interpretation to be endorsed complies with the Community law and, in particular, the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 as regards understandability, relevance, reliability and comparability as well as the true and fair principle as set out in Council Directives 78/660/EEC^f2 and 83/349/EEC^f3.

As EFRAG is a private body it is important for the high quality, transparency and credibility of the endorsement process to establish appropriate institutional infrastructure ensuring that its endorsement advice is objective and well-balanced.

In this context, the Commission considers that a Standards Advice Review Group composed of independent experts and high level representatives from National Standard Setters should therefore be established to serve as a body to reflect on the endorsement advice submitted by the EFRAG with a view to assessing whether its content is well-balanced and objective,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: