the adoption of IFRS in European Unio in 2005 following Reguiation No. 1606/2002 (European Parliament&council,2002),the so-ccailled IAS-Regulation,aimed to increase the comparability of publicly traded cornpanies'consolidated accounts. However,IFRS provide financial statement preparers with flexibility in the application of the standards due to explicit options, discretion in interpretation and the need for estimates that is inherent in financial reporting.Hence,the application of IFRS may vary from one firm to anther IFRS are applicd consistently;i.e.whether the de jure standardization of accounting rules of group accounts of publicly-traded companies in the EU has also led to de facto harmony.