EN Official Journal of the European Union L 21/10

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 69/2009

of 23 January 2009

amending Regulation (EC) No 1126/2008 adopting certain international accounting standards in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards amendments to International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 1 and International Accounting Standard (IAS) 27

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 July 2002 on the application of international accounting standards (1), and in particular Article 3(1) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) By Commission Regulation (EC) No 1126/2008 (2) certain international standards and interpretations that were extant at 15 October 2008 were adopted.

(2) In May 2008, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) published the amendments to IFRS 1 First-time Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards and IAS 27 Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements ‘Cost of an Investment in a Subsidiary, Jointly Controlled Entity or Associate’, hereinafter ‘amendments to IFRS 1 and IAS 27’. The amendments are the following: allow a first-time adopter in its separate financial statements to use as the deemed cost of an investment in a subsidiary, jointly controlled entity or associate either the fair value at the entity's date of transition to IFRSs or the previous GAAP carrying amount of the investment at that date; delete from IAS 27 the definition of the ‘cost method’, with the result that an investor is required to recognise as income in its separate financial statements all dividends received from a subsidiary, jointly controlled entity or associate, even if the dividend is paid out of pre-acquisition reserves; clarify how to determine the cost of an investment under IAS 27 when a parent company reorganises the operating structure of its group by establishing a new entity as its parent and this new parent obtains control of the original parent by issuing equity instruments in exchange for existing equity instruments of the original parent.

(3) The consultation with the Technical Expert Group (TEG) of the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) confirms that the amendments to IFRS 1 and IAS 27 meet the technical criteria for adoption set out in Article 3(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002. In accordance with Commission Decision 2006/505/EC of 14 July 2006 setting up a Standards Advice Review Group to advise the Commission on the objectivity and neutrality of the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group's (EFRAG’s) opinions (3), the Standards Advice Review Group considered EFRAG's opinion on endorsement and advised the Commission that it is well-balanced and objective.

(4) Regulation (EC) No 1126/2008 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(5) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Accounting Regulatory Committee,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1126/2008 is amended as follows:

1. International Reporting Financial Standard (IFRS) 1 First-time Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards is amended as set out in the Annex to this Regulation;

2. International Accounting Standard (IAS 27) Consolidated and Separate Financial Statements is amended as set out in the Annex to this Regulation;

3. IAS 18, IAS 21 and IAS 36 are amended in accordance with the amendments to IAS 27 as set out in the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2

Each company shall apply the amendments to IFRS 1 and IAS 27, as set out in the Annex to this Regulation, at the latest, as from the commencement date of its first financial year starting after 31 December 2008.

Article 3

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 23 January 2009. For the Commission Charlie McCREEVY Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 243, 11.9.2002, p. 1.

(2) OJ L 320, 29.11.2008, p. 1.

(3) OJ L 199, 21.7.2006, p. 33.