Directive 2006/43 - Statutory audits of annual accounts and consolidated accounts

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1.

Current status

This directive was in effect from June 29, 2006 until July 18, 2013 and should have been implemented in national regulation on June 29, 2008 at the latest.

2.

Key information

official title

Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 on statutory audits of annual accounts and consolidated accounts, amending Council Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC and repealing Council Directive 84/253/EEC
 
Legal instrument Directive
Number legal act Directive 2006/43
Original proposal COM(2004)177 EN
CELEX number i 32006L0043

3.

Key dates

Document 17-05-2006
Publication in Official Journal 09-06-2006; OJ L 157, 9.6.2006,Special edition in Croatian: Chapter 17 Volume 001,Special edition in Bulgarian: Chapter 17 Volume 002,Special edition in Romanian: Chapter 17 Volume 002
Effect 29-06-2006; Entry into force Date pub. + 20 See Art 54
End of validity 18-07-2013; Partial end of validity Art. 49.1 Implicitly repealed by 32013L0034
18-07-2013; Partial end of validity Art. 49.2 Implicitly repealed by 32013L0034
31-12-9999
Transposition 29-06-2008; At the latest See Art 53.1

4.

Legislative text

9.6.2006   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 157/87

 

DIRECTIVE 2006/43/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 17 May 2006

on statutory audits of annual accounts and consolidated accounts, amending Council Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC and repealing Council Directive 84/253/EEC

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 44(2)(g) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (2),

Whereas:

 

(1)

Currently, the Fourth Council Directive 78/660/EEC of 25 July 1978 on the annual accounts of certain types of companies (3), the Seventh Council Directive 83/349/EEC of 13 June 1983 on consolidated accounts (4), Council Directive 86/635/EEC of 8 December 1986 on the annual accounts and consolidated accounts of banks and other financial institutions (5) and Council Directive 91/674/EEC of 19 December 1991 on the annual accounts and consolidated accounts of insurance undertakings (6) require that the annual accounts or consolidated accounts be audited by one or more persons entitled to carry out such audits.

 

(2)

The conditions for the approval of persons responsible for carrying out the statutory audit were laid down in the Eighth Council Directive 84/253/EEC of 10 April 1984 on the approval of persons responsible for carrying out the statutory audits of accounting documents (7).

 

(3)

The lack of a harmonised approach to statutory auditing in the Community was the reason why the Commission proposed, in its 1998 Communication on the statutory audit in the European Union: the way forward (8), the creation of a Committee on Auditing which could develop further action in close cooperation with the accounting profession and Member States.

 

(4)

On the basis of the work of that Committee, on 15 November 2000 the Commission issued a Recommendation on quality assurance for the statutory audit in the European Union: minimum requirements (9) and on 16 May 2002 a Recommendation on Statutory Auditors' Independence in the EU: A Set of Fundamental Principles (10).

 

(5)

This Directive aims at high-level — though not full — harmonisation of statutory audit requirements. A Member State requiring statutory audit may impose more stringent requirements, unless otherwise provided for by this Directive.

 

(6)

Audit qualifications obtained by statutory auditors on the basis of this Directive should be considered equivalent. It should therefore no longer be possible for Member States to insist that a majority of the voting rights in an audit firm must be held by locally approved auditors or that a majority of the members of the administrative or management body of an audit firm must be locally approved.

 

(7)

The statutory audit requires adequate knowledge of matters such as company law, fiscal law and social law. Such knowledge should be tested before a statutory auditor from another Member State can be approved.

 

(8)

In order to protect third parties, all approved auditors and audit firms should be entered in a register which is accessible to the public and which contains basic information concerning statutory auditors and audit firms.

 

(9)

Statutory auditors should adhere to the highest ethical standards. They should therefore be subject to professional ethics, covering at least their public-interest function, their integrity and objectivity and their professional competence and due care. The public-interest function of statutory auditors means that a broader community of...


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This text has been adopted from EUR-Lex.

5.

Original proposal

 

6.

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