On Wednesday 14 June, the European Commission decided to bring Croatia before the Court of Justice of the European Union over its incomplete transposition into its national legal order of the EU rules on auditing.
These rules are laid down by the audit directive (2014/26/EU), which defines the conditions for the accreditation and registration of persons carrying out legal audits (see EUROPE 11061). It also lays down rules on the independence, objectivity and the code of ethics that apply to these persons and the public supervision framework to which they are subjected.
According to the Commission, Croatia's failure to apply these rules compromises the proper functioning of the national markets in the EU and calls into question the reliability and credibility of its national audit framework.
The Member states had until 17 June 2016 to transpose these rules into their national legislation. As the Croatian authorities failed to meet this deadline, the Commission sent a letter of formal notice in July 2016, followed, in February 2017, by a reasoned opinion with which Croatia has still not come into line. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)