1. Outcome of the conference
Task Force "EPSAS Governance" 2 October 2013 – Ampere, BECH building
Directorate D: Government Finance Statistics (GFS)
Unit D.4: GFS Quality Management and Government Accounting

2. Conference "Towards implementing European Public Sector Accounting Standards" Brussels, May 2013
More than 200 participants (MoF, CoA, NSI, private accountants, academics, …)
4 sessions (one day and a half)
Political support by President Van Rompuy, Commissioner Šemeta, W. Radermacher, European Parliament, President Vítor Caldeira from ECA
Wide range of speakers (EP, ECA, ECB, EUROSAI, IFAC, IMF, IPSASB, FEE, MoF, DG BUDG, DG MARKT, DG ECFIN, academics)

3. Conclusions of the conference
Political support is growing
EPSAS is a necessary tool for further fiscal and budgetary integration in EU
Ambitious project with medium-term scope
Next step should be a Commission communication, followed by a Framework regulation
-> Governance is a first issue to follow-up after the conference.

4. Overview of the EPSAS project
3 stages:
Stage 1 (mid-2013–mid-2014): Commission Communication
Stage 2 (mid-2014 – end-2015): Framework Regulation:-> Governance structures and procedures
Mid-term Work Programme
Stage 3 (end-2015 – 2020): EPSAS endorsement and stepwise implementation

5. Overview of the EPSAS project

6. Commission communication - timetable
TF EPSAS Governance
1st meeting 2 Oct 2013
Draft communication
Public consultation on EPSAS governance – results by March 2014
TF EPSAS Standards
Jan 2014
Inter-service consultation and adoption by the College
WG EPSAS
March 2014
Study on implementation costs in MS
Impact assessment
QIII 2013
QIV 2013
QI 2014
QII 2014

7. Issues to be addressed in the Commission communication
- Governance
- Task force and public consultation
- Costs
- Use sample of MS to assess costs
- Substance of standards
- Analyse difficulties with some IPSAS
- Flexibility
- Burden for small public sector entities
- Resources

8. Issues to be addressed in the Framework Regulation
- Establish the principles (accrual, double entry,…)
- Confirm the reference to IPSAS as starting point
- Define the governance arrangements
- Lay down the process of adoption of individual EPSAS standards

9. EPSAS endorsement and stepwise implementation
- Adopt the necessary legislative acts in order to implement EPSAS standards
- Gradual, possibly phased, to be achieved in all Member States in the medium-term (by 2020)
Strong EU governance
- Once the Framework Regulation is in place:
EPSAS project
EPSAS standard setting process

10. Luca Pacioli, attributed to Jacopo de' Barbari, around 1496 - Wikipedia
In 1494 described double-entry accounting in Summa de Arithmetica, Geometria, Proportioni et Proportionalita