Home | China | World | Business EU Concerned Over U.S. Accounting Standards FRI, FEB 22, 2002     The European Union (EU) will urge the United States to change its accounting standards because the U.S. system was partly to blame for the collapse of Enron, a European Commission spokesman said Thursday. The EU's single market commissioner Frits Bolkestein will meet U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Harvey Pitt, when he travels to Washington on May 22, to urge the United States to adopt International Accounting Standards (IAS), the spokesman said. Bolkestein made clear his view of the U.S. approach in an outspoken interview published on Thursday. "If you look at the various scandals in the financial field it seems they have occurred more in the United States than in Europe, or am I being rude in saying that?" Bolkestein told the Financial Times. The EU executive commission has proposed that the EU switch to IAS standards starting in 2005. All 15 countries of the bloc have given initial approval to the switch, but it must also be endorsed by the European Parliament later this year. About 300 European companies currently use the U.S. GAAP standards. Editor:casey Source:Xinhua Recommend to your friend email:    China Central Television,All Rights Reserved