EC consults on International Standards on Auditing
03 Jul 2009
The European Commission (EC) has launched a public consultation to determine whether International Standards on Auditing (ISAs) issued by the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) should be adopted in the European Union for the statutory audits of EU private entities.
In the EU, the conduct of statutory audits is governed by Directive 2006/43/EC (the 'Audit Directive'). The objective of the Audit Directive is to enhance the quality of statutory audits in the European Union. The Directive empowers the Commission to adopt implementing rules at European level by regulation. Introduction of a common set of auditing standards could, therefore, be done by regulation. As part of its consideration of adopting ISAs in the EU, the EC commissioned the University of Duisburg-Essen to conduct an independent study of the costs and benefits that would result from an adoption of ISAs in the EU. The study, Evaluation of the Possible Adoption of ISAs in the EU, analyses the impact such an adoption may have on audit firms, their clients, investors and audit regulators. The study concludes that, on balance, adoption of the ISAs in the EU would result in quantitative and qualitative benefits for companies, investors and regulators and that the benefits would outweigh increases in audit costs. Click to download:
- European Commission's Consultation Document – Consultation on the Adoption of ISAs (PDF 204k)
- Study - Executive Summary (PDF 135k)
- Study - Report (PDF 1,898k)
- Study - Appendix (PDF 5,323k)
