IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bpj/aelcon/v4y2014i3p36n1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Accounting Rules for the European Communities: A Theoretical Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Biondi Yuri

    (CNRS – ESCP Europe, 79, avenue de la Republique, Paris 75011, France)

  • Soverchia Michela

    (Department of Economics and Law, University of Macerata, Macerata, Italy)

Abstract

In the last decade, the European Union (EU) has reformed its accounting system, issuing its own conceptual framework and 18 accounting standards that draw upon the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) issued by the IPSAS Board. The aim of this article is to analyse this renewed EU accounting system that frames and shapes financial accounting and reporting of the European Communities (EC), in order to assess its capacity to “truly and fairly” represent EC economic activity as a non-business entity.The EU accounting rules are analysed from a theoretical perspective that disentangles three different accrual-based accounting representations focusing respectively on wealth (static accounting), cash flow and economic flow (dynamic accounting). Our analysis retains a modified dynamic accounting representation that fits the specific economy of public administration. This modified dynamic accounting representation is then applied to assess the representational quality of the EU accounting system. This legal-economic, normative analysis of consistency with our theoretical model is complemented and somehow corroborated by documental analysis, financial analysis and few semi-structured interviews with EU officials.Generally speaking, our analysis shows that the EU accounting system provides a consistent representation of the EC economic and financial activities, although the reference to the IPSAS has somewhat involved the application of a balance sheet accounting approach that is inconsistent with this representation. In particular, the new EU accounting system has improved on some objectives of financial accounting and reporting, such as: the economic function of redistribution related to the economic solidarity between its constituencies (Member States); the prevention of frauds concerned with transfers and financial operations; the accomplishment of intergenerational and transnational equity, through the recovery of incurred expenditures by constituencies (Member States and, indirectly, taxpayers) located in different places at different times.These findings seem relevant not only to assess the quality of accounting representation provided by the EU accounting system but also in the view of its possible influence on the European Public Sector Accounting Standards – making process launched since 2013. This process is expected to reframe and reshape EU Member States’ accounting systems in the near future.

Suggested Citation

  • Biondi Yuri & Soverchia Michela, 2014. "Accounting Rules for the European Communities: A Theoretical Analysis," Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium, De Gruyter, vol. 4(3), pages 179-214, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:aelcon:v:4:y:2014:i:3:p:36:n:1
    DOI: 10.1515/ael-2013-0063
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/ael-2013-0063
    Download Restriction: For access to full text, subscription to the journal or payment for the individual article is required.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1515/ael-2013-0063?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yuri Biondi, 2012. "Should Business and Non-Business Accounting be Different? A Comparative Perspective Applied to the French Central Government Accounting Standards," International Journal of Public Administration, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(9), pages 603-619, July.
    2. G. Grossi & M. Soverchia, 2011. "European Commission Adoption of IPSAS to Reform Financial Reporting," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 47(4), pages 525-552, December.
    3. James L. Chan, 2003. "Government Accounting: An Assessment of Theory, Purposes and Standards," Public Money & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(1), pages 13-20, January.
    4. Olov Olson & Christopher Humphrey & James Guthrie, 2001. "Caught in an evaluatory trap: a dilemma for public services under NPFM," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(3), pages 505-522.
    5. Janet Mack & Christine Ryan, 2006. "Reflections on the theoretical underpinnings of the general-purpose financial reports of Australian government departments," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 19(4), pages 592-612, July.
    6. Les Metcalfe, 2000. "Reforming the Commission: Will Organizational Efficiency Produce Effective Governance?," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(5), pages 817-841, December.
    7. John Perrin, 1998. "Resource Accounting and Budgeting : From Cash to Accruals in 25 Years," Public Money & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 7-10, April.
    8. Ron Hodges & Howard Mellett, 2003. "Reporting public sector financial results," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 99-113, March.
    9. Pollitt, Christopher & Bouckaert, Geert, 2004. "Public Management Reform: A Comparative Analysis," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, edition 2, number 9780199268498.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mussari Riccardo, 2014. "EPSAS and the Unification of Public Sector Accounting Across Europe," Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium, De Gruyter, vol. 4(3), pages 299-312, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Antonella Paolini & Michela Soverchia, 2013. "Le universit? statali italiane verso la contabilit? economico-patrimoniale ed il controllo di gestione," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2013(3), pages 77-98.
    2. Sabrina Gigli & Marco Tieghi, 2017. "La riforma del sistema informativo-contabile degli atenei italiani. Una proposta di analisi del nuovo modello di bilancio," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2017(1), pages 61-90.
    3. Syarifuddin, 2018. "Accrual Basis Landscape: The Absence of Political Will in Preventing Dysfunctional Behaviour in Indonesia," GATR Journals afr160, Global Academy of Training and Research (GATR) Enterprise.
    4. Alessandro Lombrano, 2021. "Dall?armonizzazione alla standardizzazione contabile. Quale via per la riforma degli ordinamenti contabili europei," ECONOMIA PUBBLICA, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2021(3), pages 7-31.
    5. Chandrasiri Abeysinghe & Dinushika Samanthi, 2016. "Accrual Basis and Political Interest in Public Sector Accounting. The Case of a Municipal Council in Sri Lanka," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 6(3), pages 58-68, July.
    6. Luciano Marchi & Stefano Marasca & Marco Giuliani, 2013. "Valutare la ricerca nella prospettiva europea e internazionale: prime riflessioni," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2013(3), pages 99-113.
    7. Sabrina Gigli & Laura Mariani & Angelo Paletta, 2021. "Management accounting and governance implications: The case of the University of Bologna," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2021(suppl. 2), pages 289-311.
    8. Mussari Riccardo, 2014. "EPSAS and the Unification of Public Sector Accounting Across Europe," Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium, De Gruyter, vol. 4(3), pages 299-312, December.
    9. Biondi, Yuri, 2008. "De Charybde de la comptabilité de caisse en Scylla de la comptabilité patrimoniale," Revue de la Régulation - Capitalisme, institutions, pouvoirs, Association Recherche et Régulation, vol. 3.
    10. Mari Kobayashi & Kiyoshi Yamamoto & Keiko Ishikawa, 2016. "The Usefulness of Accrual Information in Non‐mandatory Environments: The Case of Japanese Local Government," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 26(2), pages 153-161, June.
    11. Alessandro Lombrano & Luca Zanin, 2013. "IPSAS and local government consolidated financial statements—proposal for a territorial consolidation method," Public Money & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(6), pages 429-436, November.
    12. Sheila Ellwood & Susan Newberry, 2016. "New development: The conceptual underpinnings of international public sector accounting," Public Money & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(3), pages 231-234, April.
    13. J. Christiaens & C. Vanhee & F. Manes-Rossi & N. Aversano, 2013. "The Effect of IPSAS on Reforming Governmental Financial Reporting: an International Comparison," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 13/845, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    14. Rajat Deb, 2018. "Financial Audit or Forensic Audit? Government Sector Panorama," Indian Journal of Corporate Governance, , vol. 11(2), pages 135-158, December.
    15. Nogueira, Sónia Paula S. & Jorge, Susana Margarida F., 2016. "Explanatory factors for the use of the financial report in decision-making: Evidence from Local Government in Portugal," Revista de Contabilidad - Spanish Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 216-226.
    16. Stamatiadis, Filippos & Eriotis, Nikolaos, 2011. "Evolution of the Governmental Accounting Reform implementation in Greek Public Hospitals: Testing the institutional framework," MPRA Paper 28816, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Mussari Riccardo & Sorrentino Daniela, 2017. "Italian Public Sector Accounting Reform: A Step Towards European Public Sector Accounting Harmonisation," Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium, De Gruyter, vol. 7(2), pages 137-153, July.
    18. Eleonora Cardillo & Carmela Rizza, 2015. "Accrual accounting and performance measurement: Empirical evidences from two Italian municipalities," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2015(2), pages 135-162.
    19. Francesco Badia & Tiziana Landi & Valentina Montin, 2019. "Innovation in Public Sector Accounting: a New Role for Local Governments?," Working Papers 2019048, University of Ferrara, Department of Economics.
    20. Bruns, Hans-Jürgen, 2014. "Accounting change and value creation in public services—Do relational archetypes make a difference in improving public service performance?," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 339-367.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    governmental financial accounting; public sector accountability; accounting model; European Commission; accounting and economics of supranational organizations; European public sector accounting standards (EPSAS); International public sector accounting standards (IPSAS);
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H83 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - Public Administration
    • M48 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting
    • E02 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Institutions and the Macroeconomy
    • P48 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - Legal Institutions; Property Rights; Natural Resources; Energy; Environment; Regional Studies

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bpj:aelcon:v:4:y:2014:i:3:p:36:n:1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.degruyter.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.