Article 26
Auditing standards
1.
Member States shall require statutory auditors and audit firms to carry out statutory audits in compliance with international auditing standards adopted by the Commission in accordance with paragraph 3.
Member States may apply national auditing standards, procedures or requirements as long as the Commission has not adopted an international auditing standard covering the same subject-matter.
2.
For the purposes of paragraph 1, ‘international auditing standards’ means International Standards on Auditing (ISAs), International Standard on Quality Control (ISQC 1) and other related Standards issued by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) through the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB), in so far as they are relevant to the statutory audit.
3.
The Commission shall be empowered to adopt, by means of delegated acts in accordance with Article 48a, the international auditing standards referred to in paragraph 1 in the area of audit practice, independence and internal quality controls of statutory auditors and audit firms for the purposes of the application of those standards within the Union.
The Commission may adopt the international auditing standards only if they:
(a)
have been developed with proper due process, public oversight and transparency, and are generally accepted internationally;
(b)
contribute a high level of credibility and quality to the annual or consolidated financial statements in conformity with the principles set out in Article 4(3) of Directive 2013/34/EC;
(c)
are conducive to the Union public good; and
(d)
do not amend any of the requirements of this Directive or supplement any of its requirements apart from those set out in Chapter IV and Articles 27 and 28.
4.
Notwithstanding the second subparagraph of paragraph 1, Member States may impose audit procedures or requirements in addition to the international auditing standards adopted by the Commission, only
(a)
if those audit procedures or requirements are necessary in order to give effect to national legal requirements relating to the scope of statutory audits; or
(b)
to the extent necessary to add to the credibility and quality of financial statements.
Member States shall communicate the audit procedures or requirements to the Commission at least three months before their entry into force or, in the case of requirements already existing at the time of adoption of an international auditing standard, at the latest within three months of the adoption of the relevant international auditing standard.
5.
Where a Member State requires the statutory audit of small undertakings, it may provide that application of the auditing standards referred to in paragraph 1 is to be proportionate to the scale and complexity of the activities of such undertakings. Member States may take measures in order to ensure the proportionate application of the auditing standards to the statutory audits of small undertakings.