On 23 March, EFRAG and the European Commission signed a formal agreement setting out how the two bodies will work together going forward. The document recognises EFRAG's expertise on technical accounting issues related to IFRS. EFRAG will continue to provide endorsement advice to the Commission and technical input to the IASB and IFRIC.

In addition, the Chairmen of EFRAG and the IASB have agreed arrangements on how to enhance the links between 'Europe' and the IASB. Under these arrangements, representatives of the IASB Board and the Chairmen of EFRAG, the ASB and the French and German standard-setters will meet before each joint meeting of the IASB and FASB to review the IASB's work programme and progress. The first of these meetings took place on 12 April. The next meeting will be held in October. Discussion on technical topics will be held in public.

One concern within Europe has been the consistent application of IFRS. On this issue, the Commission has set up a 'Roundtable' to act as a forum for European accounting experts to identify, at an early stage, emerging and potentially problematic accounting issues in relation to consistent application. The Commission's intention is that the Roundtable will be "informal and temporary" and will act as a filter mechanism for issues that might be put to the IFRIC for consideration. The first Roundtable will take place on 17 May.

An updated status report on the endorsement of IFRS in the EU is available on the EFRAG website at www.efrag.org.