Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 on the application of international accounting standards as regards the implementing powers conferred on the Commission
Date: 2006-12-22
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European Commission, accounting, international standard, powers of the institutions (EU), standardised accounting system

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 22.12.2006 
COM(2006) 918 final 

2006/0298 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending 

Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 on the application of international accounting standards 
as regards the implementing powers conferred on the Commission 

(presented by the Commission) 

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2006/0298 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending 

Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 on the application of international accounting standards 
as regards the implementing powers conferred on the Commission 

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Community,  and  in  particular 
Article 95(1) 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) 

(3) 

Regulation  (EC)  No  1606/20023  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 
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.. 

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 
list  of  instruments  which  should  be  adjusted  as  a  matter  of  urgency,  including 
Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002. 

1 
2 
3 
4 
5 

OJ C , , p. . 
OJ C , , p. . 
OJ L 243, 11.9. 2002, p.1. 
OJ L184, 17.7.1999, p.23. Decision as amended by Decision 2006/512/EC (OJ L 200 , 22.7.2006, p.11). 
OJ C255, 21.10.2006, p.1. 

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(4) 

(5) 

In  particular  power  should  be  conferred  on  the  Commission  to  decide  on  the 
applicability within the Community of international accounting standards. Since those 
measures  are  of  general  scope  and  are  designed  to  supplement  Regulation  (EC)  No 
1606/2002  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. 

Situations  may  arise  where  newly  issued  accounting  standards,  amendments  to 
existing  accounting  standards  or  interpretations  of  existing  accounting  standards 
cannot, under the new procedure, be adopted by the EU before the end of the calendar 
year.  This  could  have  adverse  effects  on investor  understanding  and  thus  confidence 
because  companies  have  to  continue  applying  earlier  accounting  standards  or 
interpretations which have since become out of date. In the above circumstances, it is 
necessary,  for  reasons  of  urgency,  to  allow  the  Commission  to  take  measures 
implementing  Regulation  1606/2002  according  to  the  procedure  of  Article  5a(6)  of 
Decision 1999/468/EC. 

(6) 

Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 should therefore be amended accordingly. 

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

Regulation 1606/2002 is amended as follows: 

(1) 

Article 3(1) is amended as follows: 

(a) 

the  terms  “in  accordance  with  the  procedure  referred  to  in  article  6(2)”  are 
deleted; 

(b) 

the following sentence is added: 

”Those  measures,  designed  to  amend  non-essential  elements  of  this  regulation  by 
supplementing it, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure 
with scrutiny referred to in article 6(2).” 

(2) 

Article 6 is amended as follows: 

(a) 

paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: 

“2.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.” 

'The  Commission  may,  in  exceptional  and  duly  justified  cases  and  on  imperative 
grounds  of  urgency,  make  use  of  Article  5a(1),  (2),  (4)  and  (6)  of  Decision 
1999/468/EC." 

(b)  paragraph 3 is deleted. 

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

Article 2 

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President 

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