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 the procedure referred to in Article 48(2). Member States may apply a national auditing standard as long as the Commission has not adopted an international auditing standard covering the same subject-matter. Adopted international auditing standards shall be published in full in each of the official languages of the Community in the Official Journal of the European Union.

2.   The Commission may decide, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 48(2), on the applicability of international auditing standards within the Community. The Commission shall adopt international auditing standards for application in the Community 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 accounts in conformity with the principles set out in Article 2(3) of Directive 78/660/EEC and in Article 16(3) of Directive 83/349/EEC; and

(c)	are conducive to the European public good.

3.   Member States may impose audit procedures or requirements in addition to — or, in exceptional cases, by carving out parts of — the international auditing standards only if these stem from specific national legal requirements relating to the scope of statutory audits. Member States shall ensure that these audit procedures or requirements comply with the provisions laid down in points (b) and (c) of paragraph 2 and shall communicate them to the Commission and Member States before their adoption. In the exceptional case of the carving out of parts of an international auditing standard, Member States shall communicate their specific national legal requirements, as well as the grounds for maintaining them, to the Commission and the other Member States at least six months before their national adoption 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.

4.   Member States may impose additional requirements relating to the statutory audits of annual and consolidated accounts for a period expiring on 29 June 2010.