Recording of the ECON hearing of the new EFRAG President
16 Apr, 2015
The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) of the European Parliament has made available a recording of the hearing of Dr Wolf Klinz, who was recently nominated as President of the Board of the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) by the European Commission.
In his introductory remarks, Mr Klinz stressed that moving to IFRSs in Europe in 2005 was the right decision to make, however, he also stated that he sees a more active role for EFRAG going forward. So far, he said, EFRAG has been primarily the IASB's ambassador in Brussels. He believed it was now time that EFRAG became the EU ambassador at the IASB in London. Mr Klinz summed up his introductory remarks by five goals he sees for EFRAG under his leadership:
- EFRAG should become the uncontested European voice as regards accounting standard-setting.
- EFRAG must work to achieve maximum consensus in the European Union.
- EFRAG must help to ensure that prudence and true and fair view remain aspects of accounting.
- EFRAG must involve the European Parliament in the discussion around accounting standards through regular dialogue.
- EFRAG must face the fact that it does not only have a technical but also a political role.
After the hearing, the ECON voted almost unanimously for the appointment of Mr Klinz.
Please click to access the recording on the ECON website. The first ten minutes cover the opening remarks of Mr Klinz, the remaining time questions and answers. Please be aware that you can listen to the recording in twenty-one different languages as well as in the original, multi-language version.
