EVOLUTIONS AND TRENDS IN THE REGULATION OF THE FINANCIAL REPORTING IN EU

European integration has required the creation of a common set of accounting and financial reporting standards. The transition from different national accounting rules to this general set of financial reporting standards was very long and difficult. After several decades of difficulties in the attempts to create and impose European directives on accounting (4th and 7th), the European Commission had subcontracted this task to a specialized private organization: IASB (International Accounting Standard Board). This historic decision was welcomed by financial markets, but also generates controversy and opposition from some players in European societies. The standards issued by IASB International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) - allow the comparability of financial statements from different countries and are accepted by the world's major stock exchanges, including the US ones. But IFRS are criticized for excessive use of the fair value models, for their subsequent theories and, sometimes, for their predominantly Anglo-Saxon origin. More recently, after some years of IFRS in Europe, it was found that some of the national pre-IFRS differences still persist, by the options allowed by international standards.