Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council Amending Directive 2006/43/EC on statutory audit of annual accounts and consolidated accounts, as regards the implementing powers conferred on the Commission
Date: 2006-12-22
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European Commission, accountant, audit, auditing, powers of the institutions (EU)

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 22.12.2006 
COM(2006) 903 final 

2006/0285 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

Amending 

Directive 2006/43/EC on statutory audit of annual accounts and consolidated accounts, 
as regards the implementing powers conferred on the Commission 

(presented by the Commission) 

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2006/0285 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

Amending 

Directive 2006/43/EC on statutory audit of annual accounts and consolidated accounts, 
as regards the implementing powers conferred on the Commission 

(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 Commission1, 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee2, 

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

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

Directive  2006/43/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council3  provides  that 
certain measures are to be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC 
of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers 
conferred on the Commission4.  

Decision 1999/468/EC has been amended by Decision 2006/512/EC which introduced 
in  a  regulatory  procedure  with  scrutiny  to  be  used  for  the  adoption  of  implementing 
measures  of  general  scope  which  seek  to  amend  non-essential  elements  of  a  basic 
instrument adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the 
Treaty,  including  by  deleting  some  of  those  elements  or  by  supplementing  the 
instrument by the addition of new non-essential elements.. 

(3) 

In accordance with the joint statement of the European Parliament, the Council and the 
Commission5 on Decision 2006/512/EC, instruments which are already in force must 
be  adjusted  in  accordance  with  the  applicable  procedures.  That  statement  indicates  a 

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2 
3 
4 

5 

OJ C , , p. . 
OJ C , , p. . 
OJ L 157, 9.6.2006, p. 87. 
OJ  L  184,  17.7.1999,  p.  23 .  Decision  as  amended  by  Decision  2006/512/EC  (OJ  L  200 ,  22.7.2006, 
p.11). 
OJ C 255, 21.10.2006, p. 1 

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(4) 

(5) 

list  of  instruments  which  should  be  adjusted  as  a  matter  of  urgency,  including 
Directive 2006/43/EC. 

In  particular  power  should  be  conferred  on  the  Commission  to  adopt  measures 
necessary for the implementation of Directive 2006/43/EC in particular to ensure the 
confidence in the audit function and to ensure the uniform application of requirements 
regarding  professional  ethics,  quality  assurance  systems, 
independence  and 
objectivity,  to  adapt  the  list  of  subjects  to  be  included  in  the  test  of  theoretical 
knowledge  for  auditors,  to  adopt  international  auditing  standards,  common  standard 
for audit reports for annual or consolidated accounts and to define exceptional cases of 
direct  transfer  of  documents  to  third  countries.  Since  those  measures  are  of  general 
scope  and  are  designed  to  amend  non-essential  elements  of  Directive  2006/43/EC 
including  by  supplementing  it  by  the  addition  of  new  non-essential  elements,  they 
should be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny provided 
for in Article 5a of Decision 1999/468/EC.  

Directive  2006/43/EC  provided  for  a  time  restriction  concerning  the  implementing 
powers  conferred  to  the  Commission.  In  their  joint  statement  on  Decision 
2006/512/EC, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission have stated 
that  Decision  2006/512/EC  provides  a  horizontal  and  satisfactory  solution  to  the 
European  Parliament's  wish  to  scrutinise  the  implementation  of  instruments  adopted 
under the co-decision procedure and that, accordingly, implementing powers should be 
conferred  on  the  Commission  without  time-limit.  The  European  Parliament  and 
Council also declared that they would make sure that the proposals aimed at repealing 
the  provisions  in  the  instruments  that  provide  for  a  time-limit  on  the  delegation  of 
implementing powers to the Commission are adopted as rapidly as possible. Following 
the  introduction  of  the  regulatory  procedure with  scrutiny,  the  provision  establishing 
that time restriction in Directive 2006/43/EC should be deleted. 

(6) 

Directive 2006/43/EC should therefore be amended accordingly. 

(7) 

Since  the  amendments  to  be  made  to  Directive  2006/43/EC  are  adjustments  of  a 
technical nature which only concern the committee procedure they do not need to be 
transposed by the Member States. It is therefore not necessary to lay down provisions 
to that effect,  

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: 

Article 1 

Directive 2006/43/EC is hereby amended as follows: 

(1) 

Article 8(3) is amended as follows: 

(a) 

the  terms  “in  accordance  with  the  procedure  referred  to  in  Article  48(2)”  are 
deleted; 

(b) 

the following sentence is added:  

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"Those measures, designed to amend non-essential elements of this Directive shall be 
adopted  in  accordance  with  the  regulatory  procedure  with  scrutiny  referred  to  in 
Article 48(2a)."  

(2) 

Article 21(2) is amended as follows: 

(a) 

the  terms  “in  accordance  with  the  procedure  referred  to  in  Article  48(2)”are 
deleted; 

(b) 

the following sentence is added:  

"Those  measures,  designed  to  amend  non-essential  elements  of  this  Directive  by 
supplementing it, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with 
scrutiny referred to in Article 48(2a)." 

(3) 

Article 22(4) is amended as follows: 

(a) 

the  terms  “in  accordance  with  the  procedure  referred  to  in  Article  48(2)”  are 
deleted; 

(b) 

the following subparagraph is added:  

"The measures referred to in the first subparagraph, designed to amend non-essential 
elements of this Directive by supplementing it, shall be adopted in accordance with 
the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 48(2a).” 

(4) 

Article 26 is amended as follows: 

(a) in paragraph 1 the reference “48(2)” is replaced by the reference “48(2a)”; 

(b) paragraph 2 is amended as follows: 

(i) 

the terms “in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 48(2)” 
are deleted; 

(ii) 

the following subparagraph is added:  

"The measures referred to in the first subparagraph, designed to amend non-essential 
elements of this Directive by supplementing it, shall be adopted in accordance with 
the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 48(2a).” 

(5) 

Article 28(2) is amended as follows: 

(a) 

the terms “in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 48(2) of this 
Directive” are deleted; 

(b) 

the following sentence is added:  

"Those  measures,  designed  to  amend  non-essential  elements  of  this  Directive  by 
supplementing it, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with 
scrutiny referred to in Article 48(2a)."  

(6) 

Articles 29(2), 36(7) and 47(3) and (5) are amended as follows: 

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(a) 

the  terms  “in  accordance  with  the  procedure  referred  to  in  Article  48(2)”  are 
deleted; 

(b) 

the following sentence is added:  

"These  measures,  designed  to  amend  non-essential  elements  of  this  Directive  by 
supplementing it, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with 
scrutiny referred to in Article 48(2a)."  

(7) 

Article 48 is amended as follows: 

(a) the following paragraph is inserted: 

“2a. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5a(1) to (4) and Article 7 of 
Decision  1999/468/EC  shall  apply,  having  regard  to  the  provisions  of  Article  8 
thereof.” 

(b) paragraphs 3 and 4 are deleted. 

Article 2 

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

Article 3 

This Directive is addressed to the Member States. 

Done at Brussels,  

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President 

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