The Comparability of Audit Reports Issued In the European Union: An Empirical Study Based On Separate and Consolidated Financial Data

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyse the degree of European harmonisation of audit reports. This analysis refers to the international auditing standards that have been formally adopted in Europe.

In this article we analysed the wording of audit reports issued in the European union. This analysis is accompanied by tests that verify the assumptions of homogeneity and comparability of European reports. The interpretation of results is assisted by several statistical techniques including univariate and multivariate tests.

The results show that the objective of the European harmonisation of audit reports is not fully realised. Despite the wealth of information in some reports, European auditors do not always conform to the International Standard on Auditing ISA 700.

This paper includes an empirical analysis on the normative content of audit reports Europe. This analysis refers to international standards that support the performance of audit reports in Europe. In addition to information on the separate financial statements, this article considers, for the first time, the consolidated reports. The author discusses and tests the hypothesis of European harmonisation of audit reports.