The use of Public Interest Arguments in the European Accounting Field

This paper explores how the global standard setter and the European Union (EU) use public interest arguments; the study discusses these in relation to the perceptions of the actors included in the ‘public sphere’. The study examines texts expressing actors’ positions, revealing that the standard setter and the EU employ these arguments rhetorically to safeguard their political position. The findings show that respondents supporting the EU’s arguments are mostly continental, in line with a Europe-centric notion of ‘public’. Additionally, these arguments are often interpreted as a political tool to favour banks’ private interests rather than to safeguard a common interest in the health of the European economy. Further, the EU’s arguments show a potential threat to the IFRS’s status of globally accepted standards. The findings underscore the importance of considering the link between the global level at which standards are developed and their impact on jurisdictions.