Transparency in EU : The role of international public sector accounting standards

The International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) are standards whose goal is to improve the quality of the financial information disclosed by public sector entities and therefore to strengthen the transparency of public accounts and to make decision makers more accountable. This modernization seems necessary particularly in the context of the sovereign debt crisis which requires particular attention to accountability and control of public sector accounts.

 The European Union as well as other supranational organizations are in favor of the implementation of these standards. The Council Directive 2011/85/EU of 8 November 2011 on requirements for budgetary frameworks of the Member States emphazises the importance of transparent and reliable information which is necessary to ensure the proper functioning of the European Union. Furthermore this directive is also an opportunity to look at the role of IPSAS in this regard. So, through public consultation, Eurostat assesses the appropriate nature of IPSAS for EU Member States.

The aim of this paper is to provide a picture of the implementation of IPSAS by EU Member States and to analyze the opinion of the various actors involved in the application of this framework. Can IPSAS be considered as a system which allows Member States to comply with  EU requirements of transparency and reliability ? Can they bring added value to public entities ? Or are they too complex, useless and inadequate for the characteristic features of the public sector ?

On the basis of surveys carried out by various scientists and some documents released by Eurostat, we answer this question in this paper. So, the usefulness and the adequate nature of IPSAS are not universal in EU Member States. We also notice an opposition between professional associations, standardization organizations and audit firms, which are in favor of the implementation of such standards and Finance Ministries or other public organizations which insist on problems and difficulties linked to this framework.