The EuropeanIssuers pay particular attention to the information needs expressed by investors and other users of the financial statements, and also encourage standard-setters, regulators and others when setting financial reporting standards and other related requirements to meet the genuine needs of investors and other users of financial statements in a practical way and which reflects companies’ business models.

The EuropeanIssuers will encourage companies to keep their corporate reporting under regular review, and to seek ways of responding to changing market needs and circumstances. Information provided should be understandable, avoid unnecessary complexity and be presented in a timely fashion.

Standard-setters should also take a strategic rather than a piecemeal approach to their work, and should periodically seek to eliminate requirements that are no longer necessary. Standard-setters and regulators need to assess carefully the costs compared to the benefits of introducing requirements and avoid unintended consequences wherever possible. To do this, they need to involve companies in the determination of their work programme and carry out preliminary impact assessments. They also need to be conscious of the risk of a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach, since issuers encompass companies of all sizes and business sectors.

Standards when applied, as well as when written, should focus on principles and not rules, enabling appropriate judgement to be exercised, and in their drafting should take account of practical concerns raised before and during their preparation. In measurement terms, a theoretically optimum solution may turn out to be sub-optimal if, for example, it fails to address the needs of long term investors, or if the assumptions of active markets are not met in practice.

To enable the development of a business to be seen in its proper context, and through the eyes of the board and its management, it is essential that high quality information be provided on the company’s likely future development, its key risk factors, the main features of the risk management system, current performance and its approach to corporate governance.

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