Special Issue in ACCOUNTING IN EUROPE

Guest Editors: Josette Caruana (University of Malta), Eugenio Caperchione (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy), Susana Jorge (University of Coimbra, Portugal)

The European Commission has embarked on the project to develop harmonised public sector accounting standards, that will be applicable for all EU member states.
According to Eurostat, the EPSAS are a necessary tool for fiscal and budgetary integration in the EU, and are required for more rigorous, transparent and comparable
reporting of information. The ultimate objective is to have more reliable reporting by EU member states, regarding the debt and deficit levels as required by the Treaty that binds them. In order for the EPSAS to be viewed as building blocks that could bridge the gap between micro- and macro-reporting levels, the input of various disciplines is required so that EPSAS achieve this ambitious target.

The aim of this Special Issue is to stimulate a more holistic debate about the reforms and innovations at all governmental levels and public sector organizations in Europe (central government, regional governments, local governments, public agencies, public hospitals and public universities).

We invite papers within the broad area of innovation in public sector accounting regarding the development of European standards, which may have policy relevant implications in order to obtain more transparent and comparable financial information in Europe, namely research works that fall within the fields of budgeting, financial accounting, reporting and auditing.

The following are possible questions that could be addressed in the papers. This list is not exhaustive:

• The contributions of various disciplines in the development of EPSAS; in other words, the requirement for a multi-disciplinary research platform;
• The function of EPSAS in relation to Europe’s national accounting systems;
• The challenges of adopting accounting standards both at national and international level (i.e.: IPSAS; EPSAS; national reforms), which includes the harmonization of governmental accounting;
• Innovations in accounting and budgeting for public sector entities;
• The role of Auditing in Public Financial Management systems;
• Experiences in the adoption of popular reporting, integrated reporting, sustainability reporting and performance reporting in public institutions.

Papers that fall within the general scope of EPSAS development and the comparability of governmental financial reporting and budgeting within the EU are also welcome.

Authors should submit their papers by 31st March 2018 to Accounting in Europe
(http://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?journalCode=raie20&page=instructionsuctions) according to the journal guidelines.