Özet:

The adoption of IASs for the consolidated accounts of the European Union listed companies is the result of a long accounting harmonisation process. Even if that process accelerated during the last twenty years, it can be traced back more than three centuries ago, to the first attempts to national regulation. Several precursors and predecessors, individuals or organizations, acted in this way, mostly since the beginning of the twentieth century, as a consequence of the increasing number of limited liability companies and of the development of capital markets. Interventional economic policies also played a role with the implementation of accounting charts frequently linked to the need to collect statistical data for economic policy and planning purposes. But the European accounting harmonisation process really started with the Treaty of Rome and the elaboration of Company law directives regarding accounting and financial statements. Then it entered a new and fundamental step when the European Commission decided to work with an international private standard setter: the International Accounting Standard Committee. The result is the adoption of a set of standards designed to cover the financial information needs of financial markets and investors. In doing so, the European Commission not only abdicated its sovereignty in favour of a non-European private organization but it privileged the needs of a sole category of users of financial statements, the investors, neglecting the interests of other stakeholders.

Anahtar Kelimeler: