(34) Since the objectives of this Regulation, namely clarifying and better defining the role of statutory audit regarding public-interest entities, improving the information that the statutory auditor or the audit firm provides to the audited entity, investors and other stakeholders, improving the communication channels between auditors and supervisors of public-interest entities, preventing any conflict of interest arising from the provision of non-audit services to public-interest entities, mitigating the risk of any potential conflict of interest due to the existing system whereby the auditee ...[+++] selects and pays the auditor or the familiarity threat, facilitating the switching of, and the choice of a statutory auditor or an audit firm to public-interest entities, broadening the choice of statutory auditors and audit firms for public-interest entities and improving the effectiveness, independence and consistency of the regulation and oversight of statutory auditors and audit firms providing statutory audits to public-interest entities including as regards cooperation at Union level, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States but can rather, by reason of their scale, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union.

2. Employees and partners other than key audit partners of a statutory auditor or an audit firm carrying out a statutory audit as well as any other natural person whose services are placed at the disposal or under the control of such auditor or firm shall not, when such employees, partners or other natural persons are personally approved as statutory auditors, before a period of at least one year has elapsed since he or she was directly involved in the statutory audit engagement, take up any of the duties referred to in points (a), ((b) and (c) of paragraph 1.

The audit association to which the cooperative or savings bank belongs as a member is obliged by law to carry out the statutory audit.

2. A statutory auditor, an audit firm, their key audit partners, their employees as well as any other natural person whose services are placed at the disposal or under the control of such auditor or firm and who is directly involved in statutory audit activities, and persons closely associated with them within the meaning of Article 1(2) of Commission Directive 2004/72/EC shall not:

The proposals regarding the statutory audit of public-interest entities, such as banks, insurance companies and listed companies, envisage measures to enhance auditor independence and to make the statutory audit market more dynamic.

With regard to the dismissal and resignation of auditors, the proposed Directive introduces the principle that the statutory auditor or audit firm shall only be dismissed if there is a significant reason why the statutory auditor cannot finalise the audit.