Parliament ‘shaken’ by EU broadside over accounting law

A MEETING was held in parliament yesterday to discuss the bill sent back to the House by President Tassos Papadopoulos after it was found to be in breach of EU directives. The bill would have allowed the licensing of individuals to audit companies, even though they do not have the accounting and professional qualification required by the EU.
The President of the Cyprus Institution of Certified Accountants, Christos Christoforou, attended yesterday’s meeting, and told the Cyprus Mail that no final decision had been reached.

“The Parliament were shaken by the position of the European Commission that came from Brussels clearly stating that the legislation does not meet with the EU harmonization laws and must be changed,” said Christoforou.

“Parliament continues, however, to support a solution in which they can find a way to allow these non-qualified accountants to audit companies in Cyprus.”

Christoforou said the issue was still in the air and had not been solved yesterday. “However, by law the parliament must respond to the President’s revoking within 15 days, so the deadline for a solution will be next Thursday when another meeting will take place.”

Christoforou believes deputies are trying to find a solution outside of the law so they can’t be accused of acting against the EU directives. “The deputies wish to get Ministerial approval to pass their bill with the justification that some unqualified people – about 60 – had applied to become qualified auditors in the year 2002 and are now waiting for approval. These unqualified individuals claim they must be allowed to continue auditing companies since they applied before they had to meet with EU directives,” said Christoforou, adding deputies were labeling this as a “transitional arrangement”.
Christoforou said Brussels has made it clear to Parliament that the Cyprus Institution of Certified Accountants was justified in opposing the legislation. “Brussels gave justice to us and we want to see the Parliament do the same for Cyprus.”

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.