Nieuws 08 mei 2008

Rapport Europese Commissie over IAS-verordening

In een rapport aan het Europees Parlement en de Raad van ministers doet de Europese Commissie verslag van een onderzoek naar de implementatie van de IAS-verordening.

Met de Verordening werd het gebruik van International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) verplicht gesteld voor de geconsolideerde jaarrekening van beursgenoteerde ondenemingen. Daarnaast kregen de lidstaten de mogelijkheid om de toepassing van IFRS toe te staan of te verplichten voor niet-beursgenoteerde ondernemingen en voor de vennootschappelijke jaarrekening van beursgenoteerde ondernemingen. Het rapport van de Commissie bevat een update van het gebruik van deze mogelijkheden per lidstaat.

Ook onderzocht de Commissie de consistentie van de toepassing van IFRS in verslagjaar 2005, het eerste jaar dat gebruik van IFRS verplicht was. De belangrijkste conclusies:

• Overall, application of IFRSs has been a challenge for all stakeholders, but it has been achieved without disrupting markets or reporting cycles.
• There is a general perception among preparers, auditors, investors and enforcers that application of IFRSs has improved the comparability and quality of financial reporting and has led to greater transparency.
• Most stakeholders believe that the understandability of financial statements has generally improved, except for certain areas, where there seems to be room for improvement, notably on financial instruments, business combinations and share-based payments.
• IFRS accounts are still influenced by national accounting traditions.
• The IFRS recognition and measurement provisions appear to have been applied more consistently and clearly than certain disclosure requirements.
• Options allowed by IFRSs, including those related to employee benefits, borrowing costs, and joint ventures, have been used in diverse ways by companies. Options in IFRSs for early application have also been widely used. However, options to widen application of fair value measurement have not been extensively used and use of the carve-out in IAS 39 is limited to very few banks. Enforcers have expressed concern and wish the number of options available in IFRSs to be reduced in the future.

Daarnaast gaat de Commissie in op het goedkeuringsproces van IFRS-standaarden en de Europese rol in de projecten van de International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). Hierover zegt de Commissie: "In order to maintain the current high acceptance of IFRS in the EU, it is important that stakeholders feel that the work programme of the IASB is addressing the right issues and that future standards/interpretations will provide suitable accounting solutions. Some stakeholders have expressed doubts about some of the accounting projects currently being prepared by the IASB. It is therefore crucial that EU institutions, Member States and stakeholders become involved in the standard-setting process as early as possible, as this enhances the quality of the work and increases the legitimacy and acceptance of future standards/interpretations. The way the IASB undertakes impact assessment in future will also be monitored carefully."

(Bron: Europese Commissie / IAS Plus)