ABSTRACT
The aim of this chapter is threefold. First, I analyze the recent reform of the statutory audit in Europe, which has been partially driven by the well-known accounting scandals of the twenty-first century in the US and Europe. In particular, I emphasize the changes in the regulations that are aimed to ensure the reliability and accuracy of audited accounts. The EU efforts to harmonize auditing led to the modernization of the Eighth Directive by including principles of public oversight, external quality assurance, auditor education and independence, code of ethics, transparency of auditing process in it. This transformation supposedly makes an auditing the important part of the overall corporate governance (CG) function.
