Brussels, 22/04/2005 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission and the American Securities and Exchange Commission- SEC) have reached an agreement on a road map to lead to the recognition of the equivalence between the international financial reporting standards (IFRS) and the US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), in early 2007 at the earliest and not later than 2009. The road map established the stages the SEC will go through to remove the obligations on business to use IFRS standards and to come into line with the GAAP standards. This calls for a particularly detailed analysis of the application and interpretation of the IFRS standards in work which the to bodies overseeing accounting standards, the IASB and its American counterpart the FASB, to achieve better alignment of standards. The agreement coincides with the visit of Charlie McCreevy to the US. The European Commissioner for the Internal Market states in a press release that this agreement is “a sign of our common interest in reducing regulatory burden and related costs on business”. Both sides will meet in a year to assess headway made.