A number of major scandals lies ahead of today's comprehensive rules that characterize the auditor's role in society. The structure of the audit market today is characterized by a certain concentration, where a small number of participants operates, called the big 4, and where significant barriers to entry exist. This has contributed to the concern about the current market situation. As a consequence of the current concentration, and with the aim to facilitate the competition, EU has developed a comprehensive audit package to strengthen the audit, primarily for companies of general interest. The audit package is expected to, with rules of rotation, prohibition of offering certain consulting services and fee constraints, facilitate the competition for small participants in the market.

The forthcoming study aims to examine how the auditors experiences’ the competitive situation between the big 4 and the non-big 4 in Sweden, since the introduction of the audit package. To answer the aim, this study has been based on a qualitative approach and has gathered empirical data through semi- structured interviews. The interviews have been conducted with nine respondents from both the big 4 and the non-big 4.

The results of the study indicate that all audit firms that operates on the audit market believe that the competition is tough but functioning. It is perceived that high entry barriers exist in the market for the non-big 4, and the big 4 still holds the majority of companies of general interest. Purely competitive strategies are not found on the market, but the industry is characterized by professionalism and specialization. The study's most prominent conclusions on how audit firms are affected by the audit package is that it has not yet received the desired effect. The imperative rotation only assumes to increase the competition between the big 4, and major structural changes are assumed to be required for the non-big 4 to gain greater impact. Thus, regarding EU's goal of desired competition between the big 4 and the non-big 4, all respondents perceived that it hasn’t been achieved in the Swedish audit market.