EU Commission spokesman Oliver Drewes said the agreement on the stock options was slated to be approved by the account regulatory committee on Tuesday but said "technical" issues forced a postponement until Dec. 20.

"It is an inter-service process where the services involved did not yet reach an agreement on the final text," he said.

Even though Drewes admitted the deadline was "quite tight," the Commission still "hopes to stay within the deadlines," he said.

On Jan. 1, some 7,000 companies from within the 25-nation bloc would have to change their accounting rules to bring them into line with international standards and make them more transparent to contain the potential for financial scandals that have hurt the reputation of several major companies.

The accounting of stock options have also created problems in the United States, where high-tech firms specifically have been pushing to block and accounting rule that would force them to count stock options against their profits.

At the meeting of experts on Tuesday, the panel did approve several other regulations, including one which brings the accounting of acquisitions in line with trans-Atlantic standards.