Adopted the European Directive to exempts micro-enterprises from accounting and financial reporting obligations
The Council adopted the new rules which relieves very small companies from red tape. The new provisions seek to reduce administrative bureaucracy for small companies. In addition, the Commission presented the report on administrative burden reduction and calls on Member States to learn from each other.
Following the previous agreement reached with the European Parliament on the proposal presented by the Commission in November 2011, the Council officially adopted the directive aimed at exempting very small companies from accounting and financial reporting obligations. The new provisions have the potential to significantly reduce administrative bureaucracy for those companies not exceeding the limits of two of the following criteria: a balance sheet total of €350,000, a net turnover of €700,000 and an average of ten employees during the financial year. Furthermore, the directive will allow EU member states to exempt micro-enterprises from the publication of annual accounts. The Commission presented the proposal on this topic in November 2011.
On the other hand, the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, welcomed the best practice report on administrative burden reduction presented by the Chairman of the High Level Group of Independent Stakeholders on Administrative Burdens, Dr. Edmund Stoibe. The report lists 74 best practice examples – including initiatives on e-government, on intelligent solutions in particular for small businesses, direct stakeholder involvement, good guidance and cross-border initiatives. In the light of these results, Mr Barrosso calls on Member States to look at these examples and learn from them.
The report therefore shows an ample scope for improving the implementation of EU legislation. Reducing such burdensome implementation is vital to improving the life of businesses and to boosting the EU's economy and its competitiveness, since almost a third of the administrative burdens on businesses deriving from EU legislation stem from inefficient national implementation of EU requirements.