18.11.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 337/1

(1)

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

(2)

Accounting has been identified as one of the key areas in which administrative burdens for companies within the Union may be reduced.

(3)

Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC (3) defines micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises. However, consultations with Member States have indicated that the size criteria for micro-enterprises in that Recommendation may be too high for accounting purposes. Therefore, a sub-group of micro-enterprises, so-called micro-entities, should be introduced to cover companies with lower size criteria for balance sheet total and net turnover than those laid down for micro-enterprises.

(4)

Micro-entities are in most cases engaged in business at local or regional level with no or limited cross-border activity. In addition, they play an important role in creating new jobs, fostering research and development and creating new economic activities.

(5)

Micro-entities have limited resources with which to comply with demanding regulatory requirements. However, they are often subject to the same financial reporting rules as larger companies. Those rules place on them a burden which is not in proportion to their size and is therefore disproportionate for the smallest enterprises as compared to larger ones. Therefore, it should be possible to exempt micro-entities from certain obligations that may impose on them an unnecessarily onerous administrative burden. However, micro-entities should still be subject to any national obligation to keep records showing their business transactions and financial position.

(6)

Given that the numbers of companies to which the size criteria set in this Directive will apply will vary greatly from one Member State to another, and given that the activities of micro-entities have no bearing, or only a limited bearing, on cross-border trade or the functioning of the internal market, Member States should take into account the differing impact of those criteria when implementing this Directive at national level.

(7)

Member States should take into account the specific conditions and needs of their own markets when making decisions about how or whether to implement a micro-entity regime within the context of Council Directive 78/660/EEC (4).

(8)

Micro-entities must take account of income and charges relating to the financial year, irrespective of the date of receipt or payment of such income or charges. However, the calculation of prepayments and accrued income and accruals and deferred income can be burdensome for micro-entities. Consequently, Member States should be permitted to exempt micro-entities from calculating and presenting such items, only to the extent that such exemption relates to charges other than the cost of raw materials and consumables, value adjustments, staff costs and tax. In this way, the administrative burden involved in calculating relatively small balances may be reduced.

(9)

Publication of annual accounts can be burdensome for micro-entities. At the same time, Member States need to ensure compliance with the obligations laid down by this Directive. Accordingly, Member States should be permitted to exempt micro-entities from a general publication requirement, provided that balance sheet information is duly filed, in accordance with national law, with at least one designated competent authority and that the information is transmitted to the business register.

(10)

The aim of this Directive is to enable Member States to create a simple financial reporting environment for micro-entities. The use of fair values can result in the need for detailed disclosures to explain the basis on which the fair value of certain items has been determined. Given that the micro-entity regime provides for very limited disclosure by way of notes on the accounts, the users of the accounts of micro-entities would not know whether or not the amounts presented in the balance sheet and the profit and loss account incorporate fair values. Accordingly, to provide certainty for such users in this regard, Member States should not permit or require micro-entities using any of the exemptions available to them under this Directive to use the fair valuation basis in drawing up their accounts. Micro-entities that wish or need to use fair value will still be able to do so by using other regimes under this Directive where a Member State permits or requires such use.

(11)

When making decisions about how or whether to implement a micro-entity regime within the scope of Directive 78/660/EEC, Member States should ensure that micro-entities that are to be consolidated under Council Directive 83/349/EEC (5) on consolidated accounts avail themselves of accounting data detailed enough for that purpose.

(12)

In accordance with point 34 of the Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law-making (6), Member States are encouraged to draw up, for themselves and in the interests of the Union, their own tables which will, as far as possible, illustrate the correlation between this Directive and their transposition measures and to make them public.

(13)

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 Union level, the Union may adopt measures in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Directive does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve that objective.

(14)

Directive 78/660/EEC should therefore be amended accordingly,

(1)

the following Article is inserted:

‘Article 1a

1.   Member States may provide for exemptions from certain obligations under this Directive in accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3 in respect of companies which on their balance sheet dates do not exceed the limits of two of the three following criteria (micro-entities):

2.   Member States may exempt companies referred to in paragraph 1 from any or all of the following obligations:

3.   Member States may permit companies referred to in paragraph 1:

4.   Member States shall not permit or require the application of Section 7a to any micro-entity making use of any of the exemptions provided for in paragraphs 2 and 3.

5.   In respect of companies referred to in paragraph 1, annual accounts drawn up in accordance with paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 shall be regarded as giving the true and fair view required by Article 2(3), and consequently Article 2(4) and (5) shall not apply to such accounts.

6.   Where on its balance sheet date a company exceeds or ceases to exceed the limits of two of the three criteria indicated in paragraph 1, that fact shall affect the application of the derogation provided for in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 only if it occurs in both the current and the preceding financial year.

7.   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.

8.   The balance sheet total referred to in point (a) of paragraph 1 shall consist either of the assets referred to in items A to E under “Assets” in Article 9 or the assets referred to in items A to E in Article 10. If point (a) of paragraph 2 applies, the balance sheet total referred to in point (a) of paragraph 1 shall consist either of the assets referred to in items A to D under “Assets” in Article 9 or the assets referred to in items A to D in Article 10.

(2)

in Article 5, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 5

1.   By way of derogation from Article 4(1) and (2), Member States may prescribe special layouts for the annual accounts of investment companies and of financial holding companies provided that those layouts give a view of these companies equivalent to that provided for in Article 2(3). Member States shall not make available the exemptions set out in Article 1a in respect of investment companies or financial holding companies.’;

(3)

Article 53a is replaced by the following:

‘Article 53a

Member States shall not make the exemptions set out in Articles 1a, 11 and 27, points (7a) and (7b) of Article 43(1) and Articles 46, 47 and 51 available in respect of companies whose securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market within the meaning of point (14) of Article 4(1) of Directive 2004/39/EC.’.