[Dialogue with standard setters]

In recent years, the institutions of the European Union (EU), recognising that small and medium-sized enterprises (or entities; SMEs) play a key role in the EU economic system, have sharpened their political focus on such enterprises and introduced further legislation to support them. In the field of accounting and financial reporting, the European Commission has, since 2009, intensified its efforts to review the accounting directives (78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC), with the stated fundamental objective of relieving small enterprises and unlisted companies of excessive administrative burdens. The enactment of directive no. 6/2012 (introducing the new size-based category of “micro-entity”) in March 2012 and of the new unified accounting directive no. 34/2013 in June 2013 have been the most recent steps in the review process. “SME accounting” – a shorthand expression for the accounting standardisation that targets unlisted SMEs – has become increasingly relevant recently, in response to rising demand for global standards, especially among developing and emerging economies. SME accounting has thus become a crucial strategic issue for global standard setters. Whereas accounting global standardisation for listed and large companies may seem to be clear and foreseeable (at least in the short– medium term), SME accounting is experiencing an unprecedented evolutionary phase, whose final outcomes are unpredictable. […]