EU Intelligence » Exemption of micro entities from accounting burdens
Exemption of micro entities from accounting burdens
Please find the Joint Position Paper: here
At present, micro-entities, meaning very small companies with less than 10 employees, are required to draw up elaborate annual accounts and have them audited. In addition to diverting valuable manpower from these small companies with an average of 3 or 4 staff, the requirements denote annual costs of 1200 Euro’s per micro-entity on average, and up to 6.2 billion Euro’s per year EU wide. Advised by the High Level Group of Independent Stakeholders on Administrative Burdens, the Commission concluded that the generally locally operating micro-entities have no real use for keeping these accounts and should be exempted from these rules.
(From left to right: Bendt Bendtsen (EPP), Heide Ruehle (Greens), Nigel Farage (EFD) )
In line with the EU’s Better Regulation Program and the European Economic Recovery Plan, the Commission therefore tabled a proposal amending Directive 78/660/EEC on the annual accounts of certain types of companies. The proposed Directive would enable Member States to exclude micro-enterprises from the scope of the burdensome EU accounting Directives and to align the reporting requirements of micro-entities to the real needs of users and preparers of the accounts, saving the EU economy 6.2 billion euro’s per year.
(From left to right: Fiona Hall (ALDE), Dr. Caroline Lucas (Greens), Lena Ek (ALDE) )
A negative first vote on the proposal in the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary affairs in October 2009, severely threatened the credibility of the EU’s promises to reduce administrative burdens and to create a healthier regulatory environment for SMEs. However, judging by an almost unanimous positive vote in the responsible Legal Affairs Committee, it seems as though the Members of the European Parliament have regained their grasp of the vital importance of the EU’s Administrative Burden Reduction Plan for small businesses and the EU economy as a whole.
(From left to tight: Roger Helmer (ECR), Chris Davies (ALDE), Martin Callanan (ECR) )
To ensure that MEPs from all political groups are informed as thoroughly as possible on the Commission’s proposal, ESBA has made an effort to visit a total of 72 MEPs during the Strasbourg plenary sessions in January and February of 2010. ESBA welcomes the European Parliament's decision to vote in favor of the proposal.
Page last updated: 12/03/2010 09:18:50