1.The consolidated accounts of companies shall be audited by one or more persons approved by the Member State whose laws govern the parent undertaking to carry out statutory audits on the basis of the Eighth Council Directive 84/253/EEC of 10 April 1984 on the approval of persons responsible for carrying out the statutory audits of accounting documents ( 9 ).
The person or persons responsible for auditing the consolidated accounts (hereinafter: the statutory auditors) shall also express an opinion concerning the consistency or otherwise of the consolidated annual report with the consolidated accounts for the same financial year.
2.The report of the statutory auditors shall include:
an introduction which shall at least identify the consolidated accounts which are the subject of the statutory audit, together with the financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation;
a description of the scope of the statutory audit which shall at least identify the auditing standards in accordance with which the statutory audit was conducted;
an audit opinion which shall state clearly the opinion of the statutory auditors as to whether the consolidated accounts give a true and fair view in accordance with the relevant financial reporting framework and, where appropriate, whether the consolidated accounts comply with statutory requirements; the audit opinion shall be either unqualified, qualified, an adverse opinion or, if the statutory auditors are unable to express an audit opinion, a disclaimer of opinion;
a reference to any matters to which the statutory auditors draw attention by way of emphasis without qualifying the audit opinion;
an opinion concerning the consistency or otherwise of the consolidated annual report with the consolidated accounts for the same financial year.
3.The report shall be signed and dated by the statutory auditors.
4.Where the annual accounts of the parent undertaking are attached to the consolidated accounts, the report of the statutory auditors required by this Article may be combined with any report of the statutory auditors on the annual accounts of the parent undertaking required by Article 51 of Directive 78/660/EEC.