Ordinance no. 2008-1278 of December 8, 2008, transposing Directive 2006/43/EC of May 17, 2006, relating to the statutory audit of accounts inserted an article L and Tax Consultant. 

821-13 into the Commercial Code which provides that in the absence of an international auditing standard adopted by the Commission, the statutory auditors must comply with the "standards of professional practice" (NEP) adopted by the Haut Conseil du commissariat aux Comptes (H3C) and approved by order of the guardian of seals.

Indeed, as part of the European audit reform, Directive 2014/56/EU of April 16, 2014, amending Directive 2006/43/EC, the European Commission is empowered to adopt ISAs by means of acts delegates, to make them applicable throughout the European Union. 

The newly created CEAOB (European Coordinating Body of National Audit Oversight Authorities) has the task of advising the Commission in this area.

Since the ISAs have not been adopted by the European Commission, it is, therefore, the French NEPs that apply in France. The NEPs in force are globally consistent with the ISAs because they are drawn up with the aim of convergence with them.

Currently, ISA 540 on accounting estimates is being revised. Future international accounting standards (notably IFRS 9 and IFRS 17) are likely to introduce more complexity and judgment into the process of preparing accounts; auditors must take this special character into account and Tax.

The Basel Committee, the European Banking Authority and the IAIS commented on the exposure draft of ISA 540, in order to highlight the expectations of banking and insurance regulators on the subject. The new standard is expected to come into effect sometime in 2019.