12 July 2007

Commission communication on simplifying EU rules on company law, accounting and auditing

The Commission has put forward measures which would simplify the business environment for EU companies in the areas of company law, accounting and auditing. The proposed measures would remove or reduce a range of administrative requirements that are considered outdated or excessive. The objective is to build a political consensus on the way forward so that appropriate legislative proposals can be submitted by early 2008.

There are essentially two options on how to proceed for certain company law directives that address mainly domestic situations.
The first option is to address the question whether today all existing directives are still needed or whether the EU acquis in the area of company law should be reduced to those legal acts specifically dealing with cross-border problems.
The second, less far-reaching option consists in focusing only on concrete, individual simplification measures in order to help EU companies.

With regard to the rest of the company law acquis that addresses specific cross-border problems as well as to the areas of accounting and auditing, individual simplification measures seem to be the right response.
In accounting and auditing, the focus should be on reducing administrative costs for SMEs for which these costs are particularly heavy, whereas all companies should benefit from simplification measures in the field of company law.

Key measures under consideration are:

repealing company law Directives that deal mainly with domestic situations or removing certain information obligations in the company law Directives;

simplifying disclosure requirements for companies and for branches;

further reducing reporting and auditing requirements for small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Commission will also carry out full and comprehensive impact assessments, which will also take account of administrative costs.

The Communication should also be seen in the context of the Commission's forthcoming review of the Single Market, which is part of the 'Citizens' Agenda'. The final report on this initiative will be presented in autumn 2007.

Deadline for comments is mid-October 2007.

Press release
Text of the communication

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