importance and the foremost intentions of Directive
2013/34/EU. It regulates the basics of financial reporting of micro-, small, medium-sized
and large undertakings in the European Union. In addition, the new directive normatively
regulates the issue of consolidated financial statements. Finally, it contains the appropriate
amendments to the Eighth Directive (Directive 2006/43/EC), which expands the scope of
the audit of financial statements, as well as the obligations of statutory auditors. It is
therefore rightly called the Accounting Directive. Bearing in mind the importance of the
information contained in financial statements, the aim of this paper is to indicate the
expected directions of improvement of financial reporting in the European Union,
projected by the Accounting Directive. In this regard, the paper points to the most
important innovations prescribed by Directive 2013/34/EU. Then, it discusses the challenges
which Member States legislatures will face when transposing the Directive into their
national legislation, which is a necessary precondition for its application, as of 1 January
2016. Finally, based on the foregoing considerations, the paper analyzes the expected
effects of the new regulatory framework for financial reporting in the European Union.
Key words: financial reporting, Directive 2013/34/EU, the quality of financial
reporting, harmonization of financial reporting, convergence of
accounting systems.