ACCOUNTING: EUROPEAN COMMISSION STRUGGLES TO AVERT DOMINATION BY US STANDARDS.

Mr Mogg's comment is made in a letter to Sir Bryan Carsberg, Secretary-General of the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC). The immediate matter under discussion is how the IASC should develop in the future. But the European Commission perceives this debate as a determining influence on the entire architecture of international accounting.In essence, the Commission fears that if the chance is now lost to develop a widely-accepted international system in which the EU views are taken account of, the world-wide tendency for major companies to shift to US standards will become irresistible. Already many EU firms have changed their accounting practices to conform with US GAAP, because this is the only route to securing a quote on the New York Stock Exchange.Progress with International Accounting Standards.Efforts to create international standards within IASC have made considerable progress over the last four years, and in most cases the new standards have taken account of EU views. But, crucially, the US has shown no inclination to adopt them. Until the US does so, companies seeking a New York listing will continue to adopt GAAP.Now the IASC is proposing to change its own internal operating mechanisms in a way which, the Commission says, will tend to move its procedures further towards the US approach, and which will make universal adoption of international standards even less likely. "The IASC could be on the verge of being accepted as the predominant global standard-setter, provided its key constituents can be convinced that it has an internationally acceptable...