Brussels, Dec 13 (Inditop) The European Commission, the European Union’s (EU) executive body, has accepted that the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAPs) of India are equivalent to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).The European Commission adopted here Friday the measures granting equivalence to the GAAPs of India, Japan, China, Canada, South Korea and the US from January 2009, the commission said in a statement.

The EU supports, along with other key trading partners, the principle of a common set of worldwide accounting standards for listed companies.

The EU will review the situation of some of these countries (China, Canada, South Korea and India) by 2011 at the latest. It will also regularly monitor the ongoing status of equivalence and report to EU member states and the EU parliament where necessary.

The measures will mean that foreign companies listed on EU markets will continue to be able to file their financial statements prepared in accordance with those GAAPs. The transitional provisions allowing the use of these GAAPs in the EU would otherwise have expired at the end of 2008, reports EuAsiaNews.

“Today’s adoption by the commission is a momentous step. It marks the culmination of important work spanning several years. I would like to express my warmest appreciation to member states and the parliament for their support in this crucial assignment over all this time,” said EU Commissioner for Internal Market and Services Charlie McCreevy.