11.9.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities L 243/1 (Acts whose publication is obligatory) 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 EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Commu- nity, and in particular Article 95(1) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ('), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (%), Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (), Whereas: (1) The Lisbon European Council of 23 and 24 March 2000 emphasised the need to accelerate completion of the internal market for financial services, set the deadline of 2005 to implement the Commission's Financial Services Action Plan and urged that steps be taken to enhance the comparability of financial statements prepared by publicly traded companies. (20  In order to contribute to a better functioning of the internal market, publicly traded companies must be required to apply a single set of high quality interna- tional accounting standards for the preparation of their consolidated financial statements. Furthermore, it is important that the financial reporting standards applied by Community companies participating in financial markets are accepted internationally and are truly global standards. This implies an increasing convergence of accounting standards currently used internationally with the ultimate objective of achieving a single set of global accounting standards. (3)  Council Directive 78/660/EEC of 25 July 1978 on the annual accounts of certain types of companies (%), () O] C 154 E, 29.5.2001, p. 285. () O] € 260, 17.9.2001, p. 86. (’) Opinion of the European Parliament of 12 March 2002 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Decision of the Council of 7 June 2002. (*) OJ L 222, 14.8.1978, p. 11. Directive as last amended by European Parliament and Council Directive 2001/65/EC (O] L 283, 27.10.2001, p. 28). Council Directive 83/349/EEC of 13 June 1983 on consolidated accounts (°), Council Directive 86/635/EEC of 8 December 1986 on the annual accounts and conso- lidated accounts of banks and other financial institu- tions () and Council Directive 91/674/EEC of 19 December 1991 on the annual accounts and consoli- dated accounts of insurance companies () are also addressed to publicly traded Community companies. The reporting requirements set out in these Directives cannot ensure the high level of transparency and comparability of financial reporting from all publicly traded Commu- nity companies which is a necessary condition for building an integrated capital market which operates effectively, smoothly and efficiently. It is therefore neces- sary to supplement the legal framework applicable to publicly traded companies. (4)  This Regulation aims at contributing to the efficient and cost-effective functioning of the capital market. The protection of investors and the maintenance of confi- dence in the financial markets is also an important aspect of the completion of the internal market in this area. This Regulation reinforces the freedom of move- ment of capital in the internal market and helps to enable Community companies to compete on an equal footing for financial resources available in the Commu- nity capital markets, as well as in world capital markets. (5) It is important for the competitiveness of Community capital markets to achieve convergence of the standards used in Europe for preparing financial statements, with international accounting standards that can be used glob- ally, for cross-border transactions or listing anywhere in the world. (6)  On 13 June 2000, the Commission published its Communication on ‘EU Financial Reporting Strategy: the way forward’ in which it was proposed that all publicly traded Community companies prepare their consolidated () OJ L 193, 18.7.1983, p. 1. Directive as last amended by European Parliament and Council Directive 2001/65/EC. () OJ L 372, 31.12.1986, p. 1. Directive as last amended by European Parliament and Council Directive 2001/65/EC. () OJ L 374, 31.12.1991, p. 7.