The European Commission will present in the first quarter of 2027 a comprehensive legislative package that includes the reform of the oversight of European auditors. The initiative was announced by European Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque, responsible for Financial Services and the Savings and Investments Union, and aims to strengthen the competitiveness of the European banking sector and combat market fragmentation.
The package addresses several identified challenges, namely market fragmentation, the need to apply international standards more appropriately to the specifics of the European economy, and a prudential framework that has become excessively complex.
Since 2016, the Committee of European Auditing Oversight Bodies (CEAOB) has been working to bring more coordination to the market through guidelines, but its powers are limited, having no legal authority, budget, or its own resources. The organization has already submitted a proposal to the European Commission to strengthen its powers and become the single supervisor of European auditors.
Gabriela Figueiredo Dias, chair of IESBA and former chair of CMVM, also advocates for centralizing oversight, considering that regulatory and supervisory fragmentation is harmful to everyone. The details of the initiative will be known in early 2027, meeting the expectations of the CEAOB, which was awaiting a preliminary proposal from the Commission by the end of 2026 or early 2027.
