IFRS Standards
Country by country: an enlightening analysis

Support for the standards: "Mediterranean enthusiasm"

When considering support for the new accounting standards and the desire to implement them, we can distinguish between three groups:

The first includes Turkey, Spain and Italy, who greet the new accounting principles with enthusiasm and whose "militant" support may stem from a desire to escape unsatisfactory national standards. For Turkey, the pursuit of European membership may also be seen as an important factor. Germany also appears to confidently accept the new accounting standards, which could be explained by the fact that many large listed German companies have been applying IFRS for several years.

The Czech Republic, and Poland belong to a second group of countries which, to various degrees, express more mixed opinions about the expected benefits of IFRS.

Finally, in the Benelux countries, the United Kingdom, Ireland and France, the advantages of the new accounting principles do not seem to be apparent to companies, who on the whole are satisfied with their existing national standards.



Implementing the new standards: Germany, the Netherlands and Spain form the leading trio

Concerning implementation of the changeover:

The Netherlands, Germany and Spain are ahead of the pack in terms of strict and early application.

France, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Poland and Turkey belong, for various reasons (delays, difficulties or lack of motivation) to a second group whereby implementation is less advanced than in the three leading countries.

Finally, Italy's split personality stands out: companies in this country declare themselves well-prepared for the changeover and show a strong motivation, which contrasts with weaknesses in the conversion process. We expect rapid progress in Italy in the coming months.