Bürokratieabbau: Kritik an den Schritten der EU-Minister

"The member states have spoken out against freeing up micro-entities from EU accounting rules, and thereby steered away from the flagship project to dismantle bureaucracy. In its first reading the Council has only agreed some small relief to micro-entities from their accounting obligations," according to German MEP Klaus Heiner Lehne (European People's Party), who chairs the European Parliament's legal affairs committee.

He added: "Nothing substantial remains of the Commission's original recommendations. That is an unparalleled admission of defeat. The member states pump billions into the banking sector, but are incapable of offering savings to the real job motor of Europe. The finance ministers have successfully torpedoed the big promises made by their leaders to the smallest companies."

"The original thresholds would only have affected the bakery or florists on the high street, which only trade locally and play no part in European cross-border business. They ought not therefore be affected by harsh obligations, which were developed for larger undertakings," Lehne concluded.

"Although we are pleased that the deadlock in Council has now been broken and that Council is generally supportive of member states being able to exempt their micro-businesses, we deeply regret the Council's decision to accept a severely watered down version of what should have been the EU's flagship action towards cutting red tape for small businesses," according to Patrick Gibbels, Brussels representative of the European Small Business Alliance.

He added: "Many small businesses on which administrative burden weighs disproportionally heavy, now fall outside the scope of the directive, leaving them vulnerable as before. ESBA fully agrees with the views of rapporteur Klaus-Heiner Lehne and will support them once the issue returns for second reading in Parliament."

"I understand that the Council's proposal give member states the option to exempt micro-entities from including accruals in their accounts," said John Davies, head of business law at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

He explained: "Accruals are expenditures not actually paid but for which an obligation may exist. If for example there is a debt outstanding of €1 million on a companies' books, according to normal accounting rules that should be included in the books as a liability. So full liability will not now be disclosed by those micro-entities included within the changed rules."

"The question is whether it is in the interests of the users of the accounts – whether these be shareholders, bankers and all those other interested parties in the wellbeing of companies – that accruals which are such a fundamental part of accounts should now be abandoned by this class of company," Davies concluded.