eurostat EPSAS (European Public Sector Accounting Standards) The future of public sector accounting? Hessian Representation, Brussels, 11 February 2014 EPSAS - Current state of play Alexandre Makaronidis, Head of Task Force EPSAS, Eurostat

eurostat A proposal for the way forward I – Study on the suitability of IPSAS II – EPSAS conference III – Next steps of EPSAS project IV – What are EPSAS? V – EPSAS governance proposal 2/10

eurostat I – Study on the suitability of IPSAS: Retrospective Public consultation on IPSAS Study on public sector accounting and auditing practices EPSAS Conference QIV 2011QI QIV 2012QII 2013 Budgetary Frameworks Directive  "… the Commission shall assess the suitability of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards for the Member States" QI 2013 Report on suitability of IPSAS  IPSAS cannot easily be implemented in EU Member States as it stands currently  IPSAS would be a suitable starting point for the future development of a set of European Public Sector Accounting Standards 3/10 Task Force IPSAS

eurostat II – EPSAS Conference Conclusions of the conference Political support is growing EPSAS: a necessary tool for further fiscal and budgetary integration in EU and better public sector management Ambitious project with medium-term scope Next steps envisaged: a Commission Communication, followed by a Framework Regulation Governance is a priority to follow up after the conference 4/10

Europe needs harmonised public sector accounts "There are no sound fiscal policies without good government finance statistics based on good public accounting" "The importance of the reliability of government accounts has been illustrated by some dramatic episodes of inaccurate reporting of deficits and debts..." "As we continue on our road towards deeper European integration, towards a genuine economic and monetary union, we will increasingly need fully comparable public sector accounts covering all sub- levels of general government" II – EPSAS Conference 5/10

eurostat III - Next steps of EPSAS project Taking forward the EPSAS project Stage 1 (mid-2013–mid-2014): Commission Communication Stage 2 (mid-2014 – end-2015): Framework Regulation: Governance structures and due process Key principles of EPSAS Compliance monitoring Impact assessment Mid-term work programme Stage 3 (end-2015 – 2020): endorsement and stepwise implementation 6/10

eurostat Outputs from: -External study (PwC) -TF EPSAS Governance -TF EPSAS Standards -Public consultation on EPSAS governance III - Next steps of EPSAS project Commission Communication Framework Regulation 7/10

eurostat IV - What are EPSAS? EPSAS are: a suite of accruals based European standards for public sector accounting and GPFR grounded and legislated on the basis of the EU Treaties common to all public entities belonging to General Government for all EU Member States based on strong EU governance subject to internal control and independent audit 8/10

eurostat 9a/10 V – EPSAS Governance – possible structure

eurostat 9b/10 V – EPSAS Governance – possible structure

eurostat 9c/10 V – EPSAS Governance – possible structure

eurostat V – EPSAS Governance – possible structure 9d/10

eurostat Useful links Assessment Report, Staff Working Document and Inventory of MS accounting and auditing practices: cs/government_accounting Conference webpage: 13/epsas Public Consultation on future EPSAS governance: ations/epsas 10/10