WRITTEN QUESTION E-1629/02 by Paul Rübig (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Required publication of balance sheets by SMEs.
Date: 2002-06-10
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: balance sheet, company law, dissemination of information, private limited company, publication of accounts, small and medium-sized enterprises

C 52 E/82

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

6.3.2003

For example, an extensive framework for scrutinising the proper application of provisions of Association
Agreements exists with the candidate countries from Central and Eastern Europe. Regular meetings on
various levels take place to tackle any issue with regard to the correct implementation of these so-called
Europe Agreements. Such meetings aim at ensuring full compliance with the provisions of Association
Agreements. They are also regularly held with the candidate countries Cyprus, Malta and Turkey.

Moreover, the implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreements with the Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) and Croatia is regularly reviewed by the bodies cited or created by the
Agreements themselves, namely the relevant councils, committees, technical working parties, to ensure that
all the criteria agreed and obligations undertaken are being fulfilled by the parties.

In particular the responsibility of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement Council is to ‘supervise the
enforcement and implementation of the Agreement’.

In addition, the ‘Economic Partnership, Political Co-ordination and Cooperation Agreement between the
Union and Mexico’ includes an institutional framework composed of a Joint Council (Ministerial level that
meets at least once a year), a Joint Committee (senior civil servant level that meets at least once a year) and
several special committees (at the technical level). This institutional framework allows both parties to assess
and evaluate the implementation of the agreement.

Prior to the negotiation of the Agreement the Commission undertook the studies requested by conclusions
of the Council of Ministers which were in force at the time. The obligation to audit was agreed at a later
stage and therefore the Union-Mexico Agreement has not been audited. The Commission will do so when
opening the negotiations on the issues still pending, namely liberalisation of services and some agricultural
products. The parties should open talks on these issues three years after entry into force of
the
Decision 2/2000 liberalising trade on goods and Decision 2/2001 concerning trade on services.

Last but not least, the overall application of the provisions of the agreements with the Mediterranean
countries is monitored by meetings of
the association councils, which usually meet once a year.
The association committees administer the more technical aspects of the agreements, and they too
generally meet once a year. Working parties or ad hoc meetings are convened if a more detailed
examination of a particular issue is required.

(2003/C 52 E/093)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1629/02

by Paul Rübig (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(10 June 2002)

Subject: Required publication of balance sheets by SMEs

Pursuant to Article 47(1) of Directive 78/660/EEC (1), annual accounts must be published as laid down by
the laws of each Member State in accordance with Article 3 of Directive 68/151/EEC (2). This article
requires particulars and documents to be disclosed in a national gazette appointed for that purpose by the
Member State.

This legislation, which requires small
submission of their balance sheet, needs to be reviewed as a matter of urgency in the interests of SMEs.

limited liability companies (GmbH) to publish a notification of

At all events, anyone who is interested in the balance sheet of a particular company must inspect it in
person at the company accounts court (Firmenbuchgericht). Such persons may also find out there whether
the balance sheet has already been submitted or not, which means that the publication of a notification of
submission in a national gazette is pointless.

6.3.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 52 E/83

Although the submission of balance sheets is undoubtedly a sensible transparency measure, placing a
notification of this submission in a national gazette is inappropriate and is,
in addition, an annually
recurring financial burden, particularly for small limited liability companies.

How does the Commission justify the requirement of publication of a notification of submission of balance
sheets and the associated costs for SMEs?

(1) OJ L 222, 14.8.1978, p. 11.
(2) OJ L 65, 14.3.1968, p. 8.

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(24 July 2002)

The requirements in respect of compulsory filing and disclosure of a series of documents and particulars
by limited liability companies are set out in the First Council Directive 68/151/EEC of 9 March 1968
(‘the First Company Law Directive’) (1).

Article 3 of this Directive provides that all documents and particulars shall be kept in the file or entered in
the register, and that disclosure of these documents and particulars ‘shall be effected by publication in the
national gazette appointed for that purpose by the Member State, either of the full or partial text, or by
means of a reference to the document which has been deposited in the file or entered in the register’.

The requirement for such a publication is justified by the need to make sure that third parties will be duly
informed of the fact that new documents or particulars have been deposited in the file or entered in the
register. Without such a publication, third parties would have to consult registers every day, for all
companies in which they are interested, with the aim of checking whether modifications have arisen. This
would be extremely burdensome and costly in practice, particularly in Member States where registration of
documents and particulars is organised on a decentralised basis.

The Commission nevertheless shares the view, expressed in a Report presented in September 1999 by a
Working Group set up in the context of the SLIM process (Simplification of the Legislation on the Internal
Market), that several requirements contained in the First Company Law Directive can be simplified by the
use of modern technology. To this end, the Commission has adopted on 3 June 2002 a Proposal for a
Directive amending the First Company Law Directive (2). The proposed modernisation of the First Directive
will not only help to meet the important objective of making company information more easily and
rapidly accessible to interested parties, but will also simplify significantly the disclosure formalities imposed
upon companies.

More particularly, with respect to the requirement for a publication in a national gazette, Member States
will be able to decide to keep this national gazette in electronic form or to replace this publication with
equally effective means (subject to the provision of a central and chronological access to company
information, which is the main function performed by a national gazette).

(1)

First Council Directive 68/151/EEC of 9 March 1968 on co-ordination of safeguards which, for the protection of
the interests of members and others, are required by Member States of companies within the meaning of the second
the
paragraph of Article 58 of
Community, as last amended by the 1994 Act of Accession (OJ C 241, 29.8.1994).

the Treaty, with a view to making such safeguards equivalent

throughout

(2) COM(2002) 279 final.

(2003/C 52 E/094)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1632/02

by Richard Corbett (PSE) to the Commission

(10 June 2002)

Subject: Malta

Can the Commission confirm that, in Malta, it is illegal to criticise the Prime Minister in public? Does the
Commission agree that this is an infringement of Article 10 (Freedom of Expression) of the European
Convention on Human Rights, which states that ‘Everyone has the right to freedom of expression.’?

Does the Commission agree that such infringements of human rights may affect Malta’s application to
accede to the European Union?