Does the European Commission require more independence than investors?

Background In 2008 a global financial crisis erupted. Even though auditors were not to blame for the financial crisis the public questioned how auditors could issue a clean bill of health despite the serious weaknesses. This made the Commission release the 2010 Green Paper on audit policy: Lessons from the Crisis. The Green Paper is a consultation paper which received around 700 replies from various stakeholders. In 2011, the Commission presented their proposal on reform of the audit market, in which many of the key elements had been discussed in the Green Paper. The 2011 proposal seeks to enhance auditor independence and introduce a more dynamic audit market. The proposed reforms are very strict and if the proposal is passed in its current form it would imply a major change of the audit market. This thesis has studied the replies made by investors to the Green Paper; investors are the primary stakeholders and those who should be most concerned with auditor independence. It is therefore important and interesting to study their viewpoints to the Green Paper.