The objective of this paper is to analyse the important decisions made by the European Commission in 2000, in order to undertake a final strategy with regard to accounting harmonisation. We think that this topic is especially relevant in the framework of this International Conference, because many regional accounting harmonising bodies may follow the EU steps since Europe is a very important economic area to be borne in mind in the world accounting harmonisation debate where the United States are playing the leading role on the grounds of their capital markets hegemony. Given the timeliness and relevance of these regulatory changes, we think it is of the outmost importance to look into their origins and highlight their impact on the everyday life of the different components of the accounting discipline, i.e., regulators, academics and the accounting profession.The "widely unknown" IAS are just "round the corner". It is about time that we all start preparing the change of the basis of financial reporting to IAS and get ready for the challenges that it poses to the accounting profession and education.
Accounting harmonisation; European Union; IASC; International Accounting Standards
