Project 3: Supervision of auditors (amendment of the Eighth Directive)

Description:
Together with the Federation of European Accounting Experts, the Financial Markets Authority (AFM), the Dutch Ministry of Finance and other parties involved, including the Royal Netherlands Institute of Registeraccountants (NIVRA), EURinSPECT is working on a project in which figures based on assessments by auditors in different EU Member States (France, the Netherlands, the UK and possibly Belgium or Germany) will be made available for the European Parliament’s evaluation of the amendments in approval by auditors based on the Eighth Directive.

This project involves a study of the marginal costs of unequal rules, standards and implementing practices in the supervision of auditors in the various EU Member States. The current Directive assumes minimum harmonisation and objectives designed to lead to the required quality and integrity standards for auditors. EURinSPECT will investigate whether a system can be proposed that has identical goals, but that generates lower costs. In this case, EURinSPECT will also study the benefits (costs) of a European passport for firms of accountants in Europe. The study will focus on problems identified by the sector itself and on points where differences between Member States lead to constraints to cross-border co-operation in Europe.

With the results of this project, EURinSPECT will contribute towards:
•    Unwanted differences in the approach to companies between inspectorates in the Member States
•    Unintended differences between national rules and procedures in the Member States,
•    European rules obstructing co-ordination between inspectorates
•    Unco-ordinated policy between inspectorates in the Netherlands and Norway and other inspectorates involved
•    Unutilised possibilities for inspectorates to accept supervision and adopt supervisory practices from each other
•    More opportunities to develop supervisory specialisms in EU Member States, and to share these
•    More opportunities for risk-based supervision rather than rule-based supervision,
•    More deregulation, if possible based on accepted practices and common agreements on codes of conduct
•    Other possibilities to reduce administrative and supervisory costs in Europe and in the Member States

With the outcomes of this project, EURinSPECT will contribute towards:
•    Streamlining of supervision within the EU,
•    A level playing field in Europe,
•    Adjustment of European rules with a view to reducing administrative and supervisory costs in Europe,
•    Realisation of the 25% reduction in costs in the EU proposed by the Commission,
•    A reduction in administrative and supervisory costs for large and small businesses,
•    The creation of a forum and platform for the exchange of knowledge on supervision and inspection in Europe,
•    Co-ordination of processes and information flows between Member States and at the EU level,
•    Avoidance of unnecessary transaction costs,
•    Harmonisation of supervisory rules and their implementation (at the EU and national levels).

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