The proposal on the audit profession, obtained by Reuters, also calls on EU audit supervisors to co-operate in investigations. But it falls short of proposing a European counterpart of the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, which polices accountants across the Atlantic.
The multi-billion euro accounting scandal which erupted at Italy's main food firm late in December exposed a legal loophole that allows a company's main auditor to escape blame if the problem emerged at a unit it did not audit.
Documents obtained by Reuters showed that the EU executive wants to end this situation by placing responsibility for a company's consolidated accounts at the door of a single audit firm, even when some audit work is out-sourced.
"Member states shall ensure that the group auditor bears the full responsibility for the audit report in relation to the consolidated accounts," said the draft document, which could be tightened still further in the wake of the Parmalat debacle.
The Commission's planned directive on statutory audit is parallel to a planned reform on corporate governance that will likely make EU boards of directors collectively responsible for their company's books. All these proposals are being rushed through in the wake of the scandal at Parmalat.
The Commission will also call on the 15 EU states, who will be joined by 10 more from May 1, to set up a public oversight system for auditors and that this should be governed by a majority of non-auditors.