13/09/2007 (Agence Europe) - At a Portuguese Justice Ministry conference in Lisbon on Thursday 13 September, Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy called for simplification of European rules on company law. “We need to ask the question whether there is a need for Community rules on domestic mergers and domestic divisions and whether the EU would not do better to focus on cross-border situations,” he said. He opined that “the same approach applies to the Second Company Law directive on minimum capital” for which an external study (the results of which will be made public in the autumn) is currently examining “the feasibility of an alternative system to the current rules on (companies') capital maintenance”. In July, the European Commission initiated a consultation exercise on the simplification of European rules on company law, accounting and auditing (see EUROPE 9467). Furthermore, it does not intend to endorse the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) proposal which would introduce international standards of financial information for small and medium-sized enterprises. (mb)