Implementation of supra-national policies: lessons from the Nordic countries' experiences of European directives

The article analyses the process of implementation of the Accounting Directives in the Nordic countries as a case study of supra-national regulation. The experiences in the Nordic countries are documented for an English-speaking readership based on the drafts of the legislation, commentaries by the implementing committees and interviews with individuals involved in the process. The article concludes that, in the current economic and political climate, the European Union has apparently drawn on the experience of implementing the original directives with its new model for regulating accounting change introduced with the IAS Regulation of 2002.