Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directive 78/660/EEC on the annual accounts of certain types of companies as regards micro-entities (Text with EEA relevance) {SEC(2009) 206} {SEC(2009) 207}
Date: 2009-02-26
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: account, balance sheet, capital market, capital movement, organisation, publication of accounts

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 18.3.2009 
COM(2009) 83 final/2 

2009/0035 (COD) 

CORRIGENDUM 
Annule et remplace le document COM(2009) 83 final du 26.2.2009 
Concerne toutes les versions linguistiques 

Proposal for a 

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL  

amending Council Directive 78/660/EEC on the annual accounts of certain types of 
companies as regards micro-entities 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

{SEC(2009) 206} 
{SEC(2009) 207} 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

1.1. 

Objectives of the proposal 

the  business  environment  and  particularly 

The objective of this proposal of an amendment to the Directive 78/660/EEC on the 
annual  accounts  of  certain  types  of  companies  (4th  Company  Law  Directive)1  is  to 
simplify 
the  financial  reporting 
requirements for micro-entities in order to enhance their competitiveness and release 
their  growth  potential.  The  changes  should  lead  to  reduced  administrative  burden 
while  safeguarding  adequate  protection  and  information  to  stakeholders  and  enable 
alignment  of  the  micro-entities'  reporting  requirements  with  the  real  needs  of  users 
and preparers. 

1.2. 

General context 

The European Council of 8 - 9 March 2007 underlined that reducing administrative 
burden is important for boosting the European economy, especially considering the 
potential benefits this can bring for SMEs. It stressed that a strong joint effort of the 
European Union and the Member States is necessary to reduce administrative burden 
within  the  EU.2  At  its  meeting  in  March  2008,  the  European  Council  called  on  the 
Commission  to  identify  new  "fast  track"  legislative  proposals  in  order  to  reduce 
administrative burdens3. Accounting and auditing have been identified as key areas 
for reducing administrative burden for European companies. 

In  the  aftermath  of  the  financial  crisis,  the  Commission  issued  "A  European 
Economic  Recovery  Plan"  to  restore  consumer  and  business  confidence.  The 
European  Economic  Recovery  Plan  pledges  to  reduce  the  burden  on  small  and 
medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and micro-entities by among others "removing the 
requirement on micro-enterprises to prepare annual accounts"4. 

Furthermore  the  European  Parliament  encourages  “the  Commission  to  continue  its 
activities  with  regard  to  the  simplification  of  company  law,  accounting  and 
auditing…,  in  particular  the  4th  and  7th  Company  Law  Directives”5  and  explicitly 
calls  on  the  Commission  to  come  forward  with  a  legislative  proposal  that  allows 

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5 

OJ L 222, 14.8.1978, p. 11.  
Presidency Conclusions of the Brussels European Council - doc. 7224/07, point 24. 
Presidency Conclusions of the Brussels European Council – doc. 7652/08, point 9. 
Communication from the Commission to the European Council, A European Economic Recovery Plan - 
COM(2008) 
the  Commission  website: 
http://ec.europa.eu/commission_barroso/president/pdf/Comm_20081126.pdf 
Report on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the Governance of the International 
Accounting  Standards  Board  (IASB)  (2006/2248(INI)),  EP,  Committee  on  Economic  and  Monetary 
Affairs, Rapporteur: Alexander Radwan, A6-0032/2008, 5.2.2008, p. 10. 

4,  Available 

26.11.2008, 

point 

800, 

on 

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Member  States  to  exempt  local  and  regional  undertakings  from  the  scope  of  the 
Accounting Directives6. 

The 4th Company Law Directive was adopted in 1978 in order to create a harmonised 
set of requirements for the external reporting of all limited liability companies in the 
EU. In 1983, the 7th Company Law Directive was adopted and added a common set 
of requirements for consolidated financial statements. The 4th and 7th Company Law 
Directives (Accounting Directives) create together the core of the accounting acquis. 
During  the  past  30  years  the  Accounting  Directives  were  modified  several  times. 
Through  the  adoption  of  the  Regulation  (EC)  No  1606/2002  on  the  application  of 
international  accounting  standards  (IAS  Regulation)7  listed  companies  (and  those 
with listed debt) have to present IFRS accounts, and are consequently relieved from 
most  of  the  requirements  in  the  4th  and  7th  Company  Law  Directives.  These 
Directives however still forms the basis for SME accounting in the EU8. 

The Accounting Directives have led to improved financial reporting environment in 
the EU. Every subsequent addition to the Accounting Directives has however created 
new requirements, and whilst every added requirement may have been justified in its 
own right, it is now important to reconsider whether less useful requirements should 
be removed or replaced. 

Commission  Recommendation  2003/361/EC9  defines  micro,  small  and  medium-
sized enterprises. However, consultations with Member States have indicated that the 
thresholds  for  micro-enterprises  in  that  Recommendation  may  be  too  high  for 
accounting  purposes.  The  presented  proposal  suggests  that  a  category  of  micro 
entities  as  the  smallest  enterprises  could  be  introduced  into  the  EU  legislative 
framework10. Companies which on their balance sheet date do not exceed the limits 
of two of the following criteria: balance sheet total 500 000 EUR, net turnover 1 000 
000  EUR  and/or  average  number  of  employees  during  the  financial  year  of  10 
persons are considered to be micro-entities. Micro-entities are currently subject to the 
same  rules  as  larger  companies,  but  over  time  it  has  been  found  that  the  extensive 
reporting  rules  applied  to  them  are  not  in  proportion  with  the  their  specific 
accounting needs and create a cost burden and can hinder efficient use of capital for 
productive purposes. 

The  proposed  amendment  represents  a  targeted  change  of  the  4th  Company  Law 
Directive11  that  should  lead  to  significant  simplification  of  legislation  in  the  short-

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European  Parliament's  resolution  of  18  December  2008  on  accounting  requirements  as  regards  small 
and medium-sized companies, particularly micro-entities, P6_TA(2008)0635. 
Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 July 2002 on the 
application of international accounting standards (OJ L 243, 11.9.2002, p. 1). 
A  separate  directive  lays  down  the  requirements  for  the  audit  of  the  annual  accounts  (Directive 
2006/43/EC on statutory audits of annual accounts and consolidated accounts - OJ L 157, 9.6.2006, p. 
87). 
OJ L 124, 20.5.2003, p. 36. 
This  new  entity  group  originates  in  the  Commission  Communication  of  July  2007  (Communication 
from the Commission on a simplified business environment for companies in the areas of company law, 
accounting  and  auditing  -  COM(2007)  394,  10.7.2007.  Available  on  the  Commission  website: 
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/company/simplification/index_en.htm) 
The  7th  Company  Law  Directive  does  not  need  to  be  amended,  as  already  the  present  text  of  this 
Directive  gives  the  Member  States  an  option  to  exclude  from  the  obligation  to  draw  up  consolidated 

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term  perspective.  This  proposal  is  part  of  the  Simplification  Rolling Programme  of 
the Commission which is a key priority of the Better Regulation agenda. 

Furthermore, this proposal shall be also seen as a part of a broader overhaul of the 4th 
and 7th Company Law Directives which is envisaged in the Commission Legislative 
Work  Programme  for  the  third  quarter  of  2009.  In  the  context  of  this  planned 
modernisation/change  of  the  EU  accounting  framework,  a  public  consultation  is 
going to be launched shortly. 

2. 

RESULTS OF CONSULTATIONS OF INTERESTED PARTIES AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT 

2.1. 

Consultation of interested parties 

The  Commission  Services  conducted  research  in  order  to  identify  the  potentially 
most  burdensome  requirements  of  the  Accounting  Directives12.  The  initial  findings 
indicated that several amendments could be made in order to simplify them. 

These  initial  ideas  and  suggestions  were  discussed  with  Member  States  in  the 
Accounting Regulatory Committee (ARC) at several meetings from December 2006 
onwards. Following these discussions, the Commission published a Communication 
in  July  200713  identifying  potential  amendments/changes  to  the  Accounting 
Directives. The Commission Services identified policy options to be considered and 
i.a.  proposed  to  introduce  a  new  category  of  so-called  "micro-entities"  in  the  4th 
Company  Law  Directive,  which  could  be  optionally  exempted  by  Member  State 
from  its  scope.  The  majority  of  stakeholders  who  responded  to  the  public 
consultation was in favour of exempting micro-entities form the requirements of the 
Accounting  Directives  as  it  would  constitute  a  major  reduction  of  administrative 
burden for those entities and encourage new start-ups. 

The  High  Level  Group  of  Independent  Stakeholders  on  Administrative  Burdens 
(High  Level  Group)14  discussed  the  ways  to  reduce  the  burden  in  the  area  of 
company  law  and  accounting,  with  the  conclusion  that  several  of  the  accounting 
obligations stemming from the Accounting Directives are not necessary. Therefore in 
their report15 the High Level Group calls for rapid enactment of Member State option 
to exempt micro-entities. 

financial statements companies to be consolidated which together do not exceed the limits of medium-
sized  company  as  defined  in  the  4th  Company  Law  Directive  (Art.  6(1)  of  the  7th  Company  Law 
Directive). 
Including the study conducted by Ramboll Management, commissioned by the Commission: Study on 
Administrative  Costs  of  the  EU  Company  Law  Acquis,  July  2007,  available  on  the  Commission 
website: 
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/company/docs/simplification/final_report_company_law_administr
ative_costs_en.pdf 
Communication from the Commission on a simplified business environment for companies in the areas 
of company law, accounting and auditing - COM(2007) 394, 10.7.2007. Available on the Commission 
website: http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/company/simplification/index_en.htm  
For details on the High Level Group of Independent Stakeholders see the Commission website: 
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/regulation/better_regulation/high_level_group_is_en_version.htm 
High Level Group Report:  
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/admin-burdens-reduction/docs/080710_hlg_op_comp_law_final.pdf 

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2.2. 

Impact assessment 

The  Commission  Services  presented  an  impact  assessment  of  this  proposal  to  the 
Impact  Assessment  Board  which  approved  it  on  28  January  2009.  The  comments 
provided by the Board were taken into account. 

This impact assessment concludes that the proposed removal of micro-entities from 
the scope of the 4th Company Law Directive is expected to have a positive impact on 
reduction of administrative reporting burden for micro-entities, creating opportunities 
for  the  provision  of  more  relevant  and  understandable  information  to  main  users, 
creditors  and  management  while  having  no  significant  negative  impact  on  the 
information to the external stakeholders and creditor protection and for cross-border 
trade.  It    will  have  an  impact  on    availability  of  statistical  data  in  some  Member 
States    leading  to  changes  in  the    collection  of  statistical  data.  This  could,  for 
instance, be overcome by additional statistical surveys. The proposal will also lead to 
some  reduction  of  publicly  available  information.  However,  the  role  of  published 
financial  statements  as  regards  micro  entities  is  limited,  as  for  example  the 
employees of such companies have usually direct contact with the management and 
owner(s). As regards general public, the interest for information on micro entities is 
generally very low16. 

2.3.  Monitoring and evaluation 

This  proposal  should  be  seen  in  connection  with  other  simplification  measures 
regarding  the  4th  and  7th  Company  Law  Directives  and  their  impact  and  evaluation 
shall  be  carried  out  together.  The  Commission  will  monitor  the  implementation 
together with the Member States and will organise implementation workshops. The 
evaluation of effects and functioning of the exemption for micro-entities will include 
an  assessment  as  regards  the  key  objectives  of  better  alignment  of  the  accounting 
rules  with  the  needs  of  the  users  and  preparers  of  the  financial  reports  and  overall 
reduction of administrative burden. 

A  general  overhaul  of  the  4th  and  7th  Company  Law  Directive  envisaged  in  the 
Commission Legislative Work Programme for the third quarter of 2009 shall develop 
the issue of monitoring more precisely.  

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The  Impact  Assessment  describes  several  policy  options  which  the  Commission  Services  reflected 
upon:  Option  0  consists  in  making  no  changes  to  the  4th  Company  Law  Directive,  Option  1  in 
encouraging  Member  States  to  a  full  use  of  the  currently  in  the  4th  Company  Law  Directive  existing 
options, Option 2 foresees an obligatory exemption of micro-entities from the scope of the 4th Company 
Law Directive, Option 3 establishes a Member State option to exempt micro entities from the scope of 
the 4th Company Law Directive, Option 4 would constitute a simplified mandatory accounting regime 
for  micro-entities  and  Option  5  provides  for  amendments  to  the  4th  Company  Law  Directive  without 
introducing the new category of micro-entities.  
Following  the  comparison  of  all  the  above-mentioned  options,  the  Impact  Assessment  comes  to  the 
conclusion that establishing an option for Member States to exempt micro-entities from the scope of the 
4th  Company  Law  Directive  (Option  3  above)  provides  the  biggest  burden  reduction  and  can  be  also 
implemented within the shortest timeframe and is therefore the most appropriate alternative in order to 
significantly  reduce  the  administrative  burden  of  the  small  businesses  and  align  the  reporting 
requirements with the needs of the users and preparers. 

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3. 

LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL 

3.1. 

Legal basis 

Article 44 (1) of the Treaty establishing European Community17. 

3.2. 

Subsidiarity and proportionality principles 

This  proposal  does  not  fall  under  the  exclusive  competence  of  the  Community. 
Action  at  EU  level  is  necessary  as  obligations  for  financial  reporting  for  micro-
entities derive from EU directive. In order to allow Member States to exempt micro-
entities  from  these  requirements,  the  4th  Company  Law  Directive  needs  to  be 
changed;  action  at  EU  level  is  therefore  justified.  The  proposed  modifications  are 
proportionate to the objective of removing the unnecessary administrative burden for 
micro-entities. 

The proposal continues the Community's principle based approach to EU-Accounting 
regulation.  Also,  the  Accounting  Directives  represent  "minimum  harmonisation"18. 
This ensures proportionality and leaves flexibility to Member States on how to fulfil 
the objectives while minimising the financial and administrative burden of the micro-
entities.  Therefore,  when  implementing  this  Directive,  Member  States  should  also 
analyse  and  take  into  account  the  national  legislation  and  further  simplification 
measures  at  national  level  might  be  recommendable.  It  has  to  be  also  noted  in  this 
context, that the Commission is aware of the fact that it remains up to the Member 
States  to  check  and  monitor  whether  the  micro-entities  criteria  by  companies 
excluded from the scope of the 4th Company Law Directive continue or cease to be 
met. The Member States shall have relevant necessary information at their disposal 
(statistical,  social  data  etc.).  In  the  spirit  of  subsidiarity,  the  Commission  has 
deliberately chosen this option. 

3.3. 

Choice of instrument 

The proposed instrument amends existing directives and is therefore a directive. 

4. 

SIMPLIFICATION 

In October 2005, following the Commission communication "Better Regulation for 
Growth  and  Jobs  in  the  EU"19,  the  Commission  launched  a  new  phase  for  the 
simplification  of  existing  EU  law  by  setting  out  a  rolling  programme20,  initially 
covering the years 2005-2008. In January 2009, the Commission presented its Third 
Strategic  Review  on  Better  Regulation  and  updated  its  Simplification  Rolling 
Programme21.  The  presented  proposal  is  foreseen  in  this  Simplification  Rolling 
Programme  for  adoption  by  the  Commission  in  200922  as  part  of  the  review  of  the 

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OJ C 325, 24.12.2002, p. 35. 
Member States can put in place more extensive requirements nationally. The Directives already contain 
numerous options for SMEs, but many of those have not been taken up by Member States. 
COM(2005) 97, 16.3.2005. 
COM(2005) 535, 25.10.2005. 
COM(2009) 17, 28.1.2009. 
and is also referenced in the Commission Agenda Planning as 2009/MARKT/051. 

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Accounting  Directives  to  take  account  of  the  interests  of  small  businesses  and  to 
reduce administrative burdens. This more general proposal requires more time for its 
preparation.  The  Commission  therefore  considers  that  in  line  with  the  European 
Economic Recovery Plan measures are needed in the short term to reduce the burden 
on micro-entities. Significant simplification benefits are proposed.  

According  to  the  estimations  available  to  the  Commission  there  are  around  5.3m 
micro-entities  in  the  EU  that  meet  at  least  two  of  the  definition  criteria23.  It  costs 
each company €1558 on average to meet the  reporting obligations of the Accounting 
Directives. It was assessed that without any legal obligations companies would still 
spend around 25% of that amount to meet their managerial and external information 
needs. Therefore the remaining 75% or €1169 is an approximation of the accounting 
burden these companies face. This amounts to accounting burden of €6.3bn. Thus, in 
the maximum scenario where all Member States exempt micro companies and do not 
impose additional requirements the best estimation of the potential savings stemming 
from the proposal is €6.3bn (with range of €5.9bn to €6.9bn). 

5. 

EXPLANATION OF THE PROPOSAL 

The Commission suggests establishing an option for Member States of removing the 
micro-entities from the scope of the 4th Company Law and Directive and, by doing 
so,  relieving  them  from  the  requirement  to  draw  up  annual  accounts.  Accordingly, 
the Commission proposes to add a new Article 1a to the 4th Company Law Directive 
extending  the  discretion  of  Member  States  to  relieve  the  micro-entities  from  the 
scope of the 4th Company Law Directive. 

However,  it  needs  to  be  recalled,  that  companies,  including  micro  entities,  keep 
records  of  sales  and  transactions  for  their  own  management  purposes  and  for  tax 
reporting. The Directive will enable Member States to align the financial reporting to 
such  other  reporting  needs  to  avoid  unnecessary  administrative  burden.  Micro 
entities can on a voluntary basis still draw up annual accounts, have them audited and 
send them to the national register. 

6. 

BUDGET IMPLICATIONS 

There are none for the Community budget. 

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balance sheet total 500 000 EUR, net turnover 1 000 000 and/or average number of employees during 
the financial year of 10 persons. 

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2009/0035 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL  

amending Council Directive 78/660/EEC on the annual accounts of certain types of 
companies as regards micro-entities 

(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(1) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission24, 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee25, 

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

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

The  European  Council  of  8  and  9  March  2007  underlined  in  its  conclusions  that 
reducing  administrative  burden  is  important  for  boosting  the  European  economy  and 
that a strong joint effort to reduce administrative burden within the EU is necessary.  

Accounting  has  been  identified  as  one  of  the  key  areas  for  reducing  administrative 
burdens for companies within the Community.  

In its Communication on a simplified business environment for companies in the areas 
of  company  law,  accounting  and  auditing26  the  Commission  identified  possible 
amendments  to  the  Fourth  Council  Directive  78/660/EEC  of  25  July  1978  based  on 
Article 54(3)(g) of the Treaty on the annual accounts of certain types of companies27, 
including an option for Member States to exempt micro-entities from the obligation to 
draw up annual accounts according to that Directive.  

Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC28 defines micro, small and medium-sized 
enterprises.  However,  consultations  with  Member  States  have  indicated  that  the 
thresholds  for  micro-enterprises  in  that  Recommendation  may  be  too  high  for 
accounting  purposes.  Therefore,  a  sub-group  of  micro-enterprises,  so  called  micro-

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27 
28 

OJ C […] […], p.[…]. 
OJ C […] […], p.[…]. 
COM(2007) 394. 
OJ L 222, 14.8.1978, p. 11.  
OJ L 124, 20.5.2003, p. 36. 

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entities,  should  be  introduced  to  cover  companies  with  lower  thresholds  for  balance 
sheet total and net turnover than the thresholds set up for the micro-enterprises.  

(5)  Micro-entities are in most cases engaged in business at local or regional level with no 
or limited cross-border activity and have limited resources to comply with demanding 
regulatory  requirements.  In  addition,  micro-entities  are  important  for  creating  new 
jobs, fostering research and development and creating new economic activities.  

(6)  Micro-entities  are  however  often  subject  to  the  same  reporting  rules  as  larger 
companies. Those rules put a burden on them which is not in proportion to their size 
and is therefore disproportionate for the smallest enterprises as compared to the larger 
enterprises.  Therefore  it  should  be  possible  to  exempt  micro-entities  from  the 
obligation  to  draw  up  annual  accounts,  even  if  such  accounts  provide  an  input  for 
statistical information. 

(7) 

(8) 

(9) 

The High Level Group of Independent Stakeholders on Administrative Burdens called 
in its opinion of 10 July 2008 for rapid enactment of an option for Member States to 
exempt  micro-entities  from  the  obligation  to  draw  up  annual  accounts  according  to 
Directive 78/660/EEC. 

In  its  resolution  of  18  December  2008  on  accounting  requirements  as  regards  small 
and  medium-sized  companies,  particularly  micro-entities29,  the  European  Parliament 
called on the Commission to present a legislative proposal that would allow Member 
States to exempt micro-entities from the scope of Directive 78/660/EEC. 

Since  the objective of  this Directive, namely to reduce  the administrative burden for 
micro-entities,  cannot  be  sufficiently  achieved  by  the  Member  States,  and  can 
therefore  by  reason  of  its  effect  be  better  achieved  at  Community  level,  the 
Community may adopt measures in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set 
out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as 
set out in that Article, this Directive does not go beyond what is necessary in order to 
achieve those objectives.  

(10)  Directive 78/660/EEC should therefore be amended accordingly, 

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: 

Article 1 
Amendment to Directive 78/660/EEC 

In Directive 78/660/EEC the following Article 1a is inserted: 

“Article 1a 

1. 

Member  States  may  provide  for  an  exemption  from  the  obligations  under  this 
Directive for companies which on their balance sheet dates do not exceed the limits 
of two of the three following criteria: 

29 

OJ C [… ] […], p. […]. 

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(a) balance sheet total: EUR 500 000; 

(b) net turnover: EUR 1 000 000; 

(c) average number of employees during the financial year: 10. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

1. 

Where  on  its  balance  sheet  date,  a  company  exceeds  the  limits  of  two  of  the  three 
criteria set out in paragraph 1 in two consecutive financial years that company may 
no longer benefit from the exemption referred to in that paragraph.  

Where on its balance sheet date, a company has ceased to exceed the limits of two of 
the three criteria set out in paragraph 1, it may benefit from the exemption referred to 
in that paragraph, provided that it has not exceeded those limits in two consecutive 
financial years. 

In the case of those Member States which have not adopted the euro, the amount in 
national  currency  equivalent  to  the  amounts  specified  in  paragraph  1  shall  be  that 
obtained  by  applying  the  exchange  rate  published  in  the  Official  Journal  of  the 
European  Union  on  the  date  of  the  entry  into  force  of  any  Directive  setting  those 
amounts. 

The balance sheet total referred to in paragraph 1(a) shall consist either of the assets 
referred  to  in  points  A  to  E  under  ‘Assets’  in  Article  9  or  the  assets  referred  to  in 
points A to E in Article 10.  

Article 2 
Transposition 

Member  States  shall  bring  into  force  the  laws,  regulations  and  administrative 
provisions necessary to comply with this Directive if and when they decide to make 
use  of  the  option  provided  for  in  Article  1a  of  Directive  78/660/EEC.  They  shall 
forthwith  communicate  to  the  Commission  the  text  of  those  provisions  and  a 
correlation table between those provisions and this Directive. 

When  Member  States  adopt  those  provisions,  they  shall  contain  a  reference  to  this 
Directive  or  be  accompanied  by  such  a  reference  on  the  occasion  of  their  official 
publication. Member States shall determine how such reference is to be made. 

2. 

Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main provisions 
of national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive. 

Article 3 
Entry into force 

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

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Article 4 
Addressees 

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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