Now that Congress and the European Union have removed a big obstacle to international audit inspections, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board is trying to forge some new relationships with its counterparts overseas to get back on track.

PCAOB spokesman Colleen Brennan said the board is beginning to negotiate with various audit regulators in Europe to see how it can proceed in each country inspecting audit firms that audit financial statements in U.S. capital markets. The board is hopeful it can reach bilateral agreements with individual regulators to perhaps gain access to work papers that will enable the board to fulfill its inspection mandate under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

The PCAOB’s international inspections stalled in a number of European countries because the European Union resisted the process, citing legal conflicts and concerns regarding sovereignty. China, Switzerland and Hong Kong have raised similar objections, preventing the PCAOB from inspecting firms located in those countries that are registered with the PCAOB to do audit work for U.S.-listed companies.

The PCAOB has said a significant obstacle with the European Union was a provision in Sarbanes-Oxley that prevented the United States from sharing regulatory information with parties abroad. That put the PCOAB in a position of asking for access and information on audit firms abroad, but unable to reciprocate with regulators in other countries.

Congress addressed the problem with a provision in the recent Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that permitted the PCAOB to share regulatory intelligence with audit regulators in other countries. The EU reciprocated by recognizing the PCAOB as a “competent authority,” allowing EU country regulators to cooperate with the PCAOB.

The EU decision gives regulators in each EU member state permission to establish a working relationship with the PCAOB as it deems appropriate. It doesn’t grant the PCAOB direct access to audit documentation, said Brennan. Rather, “it allows the individual EU regulators to enter into bilateral negotiations with us,” she said. “If we are able to reach bilateral agreements with the individual regulators then we will have access to the work papers.”

According to the EU decision, regulators can determine on a country-by-country basis whether they will simply transfer audit work papers to the PCAOB, give the PCAOB access to documents through joint inspections, or allow PCAOB inspectors to observe the country regulator’s work.

In its most recent status report, the PCAOB published a 20-page list of more than 400 companies doing business in U.S. capital markets whose auditors had not yet been inspected by the PCAOB. Affiliates of every major audit firm are included in the list, located primarily in Europe and China. The PCAOB started publishing details on uninspected firms and public companies to give investors a heads up where companies were doing business in U.S. capital markets but escaping audit regulatory scrutiny.