L 253/8 Official Journal of the European Union 25.9.2009 DECISIONS ADOPTED JOINTLY BY THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL DECISION No 716/2009/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 16 September 2009 establishing a Community programme to support specific activities in the field of financial services, financial reporting and auditing THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 95 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee ('), Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (), Whereas: (1) The financial services sector is a key component of the internal market, crucial for the proper functioning of the European economy and for global competitiveness. A healthy and dynamic financial sector requires a solid framework for regulation and supervision, which is capable of meeting the demands of increasingly inte- grated financial markets in the Community. (2)  The crisis in the financial markets which has unfolded (5) since 2007 has put the issue of the supervision of financial institutions and financial reporting and auditing at the centre of the Community’s political (") Opinion of 25 March 2009 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (%) Opinion of the European Parliament of 6 May 2009 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 27 July 2009. agenda in regard to which it is necessary to ensure a well-functioning common framework for the internal market. In a global economy, there is also a need to converge standards between jurisdictions and develop international standards under a transparent and democratically accountable process. It is therefore important that the Community play a role in the international standard- setting process for financial markets. To ensure that the interests of the Community are respected and that global standards are of high quality and compatible with Community law, it is essential that the interests of the Community are adequately represented in that inter- national standard-setting process. According to Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 July 2002 on the application of international accounting standards (})  (the IAS  Regulation), International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) should be incor- porated into Community law to be applied by companies with securities listed on a regulated market in the Community, provided that the IFRS meet the criteria set out in that Regulation. IFRS therefore play a major role in the functioning of the internal market and thus the Community has a direct interest in ensuring that the process through which IFRS are developed and approved delivers standards that are consistent with the requirements of the legal framework of the internal market. IFRS are issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and related interpretations are issued by the International Financial Reporting Interpre- tations Committee (IFRIC), two bodies within the Inter- national Accounting Standards Committee Foundation (IASCEF). It is therefore important to establish appropriate funding arrangements for the IASCF. () OJ L 243, 11.9.2002, p. 1.