In the global scenario public regulatory regimes increasingly connect with privates one. As for accounting regulation the EU decided to move from the previous approach based on the accounting directives and use international accounting standards (IAS/IFRS) coming from a private body, the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). Global accounting standards first established by the private entity, gain binding force through European recognition based on a complex endorsement procedure. The European accounting regulation includes the endorsed international standards but not the conceptual framework from which they stem from. Based on the importance acknowledged to a theoretical framework for an accounting system, the paper seeks reasons for not considering it and/or for its implicit endorsement in the accounting regulation. The recent revision of the framework, coming from the IASB-FASB joint agreement, casts doubt on the considerations previously made and on the applicability of endorsed, but not aligned, international accounting standards.