Finance and Monetary Affairs in the EU

Latest news on economic and monetary affairs in the European Union.

Protection of euro against counterfeiting — 06 May 2014, 18:28 CET

EU Finance Ministers backed measures on 6 May that will reinforce the protection of the euro and other currencies through criminal law measures. These will include tougher sanctions for criminals and improved tools for cross-border investigation. The directive was backed by the European Parliament on 16 April and is expected to enter into force in June 2014.

Legislation against euro-counterfeiting — 06 May 2014, 17:46 CET

To protect the euro in the eurozone and beyond, EU laws aim to ensure proper coordination of anti-counterfeiting measures between national authorities and adequate penalties for counterfeiters under national criminal law.

4X Currency - FX Exchange Rate Calculator and Money Transfer Online — 30 April 2014, 18:16 CET

Live, bank-beating foreign exchange rates at your fingertips

EU Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive — 15 April 2014, 16:17 CET

Three measures to ensure that banks shoulder the risks of failure rather than relying on taxpayers to bail them out were approved by European Parliament on 14 April 2014. Two deal with restructuring and winding down troubled banks, and the third ensures that banks, not taxpayers, guarantee deposits under EUR 100,000 in the event of a run on a bank. These measures complement the single bank supervision system, already in place, and take the EU far down the road towards banking union.

Cross border taxation of citizens — 10 April 2014, 22:18 CET

The European Commission is launching two public consultations and creating an expert group to gather ideas on how to tackle any tax obstacles that hinder the cross-border activity of individuals in the Single Market. At the same time, the Commission has launched new web pages aimed at providing useful tax information to individuals who are active across borders.

Single-Member Companies Directive — 10 April 2014, 16:20 CET

Today, SMEs face too many obstacles that hamper their economic activities within the Single Market. From the perspective of company law, they often find it costly and difficult to do business across borders. Only a small number of SMEs (2%) invest and establish subsidiaries abroad. The proposal for a Directive on single-member private limited liability companies tackles these obstacles as it would standardise requirements for the creation of companies with a single shareholder. It would remove the burdensome process of registering subsidiaries and make it easier for SMEs to operate across the EU.

Corporate governance package — 10 April 2014, 16:03 CET

The European Commission has today adopted measures to improve the corporate governance of around 10 000 companies listed on Europe’s stock exchanges. This would contribute to the competitiveness and long-term sustainability of these companies. Other proposals would also provide cost-efficient company law solutions for SMEs which operate across borders. The package of measures implements key actions identified in the Communication on the long-term financing of the European economy of 27 March.

Reform of the EU Statutory Audit Market — 03 April 2014, 15:52 CET

The European Parliament on 3 April endorsed a draft agreement with the Council of Ministers on legislation to open up the EU audit services market beyond the dominant "Big Four" firms and remedy auditing weaknesses revealed by the financial crisis. The draft also aims to improve audit quality and transparency and to prevent conflicts of interest.

Long-term financing of the European economy — 27 March 2014, 23:44 CET

The European Commission adopted on 27 March a package of measures to stimulate new and different ways of unlocking long-term financing and support Europe's return to sustainable economic growth. Significant long-term investment will be needed under the Europe 2020 strategy and the 2030 climate and energy package, in infrastructure, new technologies and innovation, R&D and human capital. Investment needs for transport, energy and telecom infrastructure networks of EU importance alone are estimated at €1 trillion for the period up to 2020 as identified by the Connecting Europe Facility.

Long-term finance: positive on regulation but not enough for SMEs — 27 March 2014, 17:00 CET

UEAPME welcomes progress on regulatory aspects, but criticises poor proposals for SME finance

Single Resolution Mechanism: a major step towards completing the banking union — 20 March 2014, 23:18 CET

The European Parliament and the Council reached on 20 March 2-14 a provisional agreement on the proposed Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) for the Banking Union.

Banking Union: proposal for a Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) — 20 March 2014, 22:57 CET

The European Parliament and the Council reached on 20 March 2014 a provisional agreement on the proposed Single Resolution Mechanism for the Banking Union. The Commission proposed a Single Resolution Mechanism for the Banking Union. The Single Resolution Mechanism complements the Single Supervisory Mechanism which was proposed by the Commission in September 2012. It is set to centralise key competences and resources for managing the failure of any bank in the Euro Area and in other Member States participating in the Banking Union.

Euro: the international monetary system — 20 March 2014, 13:31 CET

International organisations provide meeting points for the major economies to discuss common challenges and their solutions. As a result of the significant role of the euro in international financial markets, the institutions of the European Monetary Union (EMU) and the euro area are playing an increasingly important role in these discussions.

The Euro and Economic and Monetary Union — 20 March 2014, 12:59 CET

All EU Member States form part of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), which can be described as an advanced stage of economic integration based on a single market. It involves close co-ordination of economic and fiscal policies and, for those countries fulfilling certain conditions, a single monetary policy and a single currency – the euro.

Macro-Financial Assistance to non-EU countries — 19 March 2014, 16:54 CET

Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) is a form of financial aid extended by the EU to partner countries experiencing a balance of payments crisis. It takes the form of medium/long-term loans or grants, or a combination of these, and is only available to countries benefiting from a disbursing International Monetary Fund programme. MFA is designed for countries geographically, economically and politically close to the EU. These include candidate and potential candidate countries, countries bordering the EU covered by the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and, in certain circumstances, other third countries.

Regulatory Technical Standards to implement the single banking rule book (capital requirements - CRD IV package) — 13 March 2014, 14:49 CET

The European Commission has adopted a package of Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) needed to implement important provisions of the Capital Requirements Regulation and Directive (CRR/CRD). The nine RTS define the ways in which competent authorities and market participants must, inter alia, handle disclosures linked to securitisation instruments, measure potential losses from derivative positions and counterparty failure, as well as specifying the types of instruments that can be used for paying bonuses.

European Commission support to Ukraine — 05 March 2014, 22:23 CET

The European Commission agreed on 5 March a package of support identifying a number of concrete measures to assist Ukraine economically and financially. These measures should be seen as the Commission's contribution to a European and international effort to support Ukraine's economic and political reforms, and will be presented to the EU Heads of State and Government ahead of their extraordinary meeting on Thursday 6 March.

In-depth reviews of 17 Member States to check for macroeconomic imbalances — 05 March 2014, 18:33 CET

The European Commission published on 5 March its conclusions emerging from the in-depth reviews (IDRs) carried out into 17 Member States' economies In the same document, the Commission assessed progress in the correction of fiscal deficits in the Member States concerned, updating its opinions on Draft Budgetary Plans from last year. This is a key step in the now well-established European Semester of economic policy coordination, the yearly economic governance cycle through which the Commission works with the Member States to create the conditions for sustainable growth and employment based on sound public finances, in line with the Europe 2020 growth strategy.

New standards to increase transparency over bankers' pay — 04 March 2014, 18:23 CET

The European Commission adopted on 4 March Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on criteria to identify categories of staff whose professional activities have a material impact on an institution's risk profile (so-called ‘material risk takers’). These standards identify risk takers in banks and investment firms. This matters because the risk takers are the people who have to comply with EU rules on variable remuneration (including bonuses). These standards supplement the requirements of the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD IV) which entered into force on 17 July 2013 (see MEMO/13/690) and which strengthened the rules regarding the relationship between the variable (or bonus) component of total remuneration and the fixed component (or salary). For performance from 1 January 2014 onwards, the variable component shall not exceed 100% of the fixed component of the total remuneration of material risk takers. Under certain conditions, shareholders can increase this maximum ratio to 200%.

Winter forecast 2014 - EU economy: recovery gaining ground — 25 February 2014, 17:15 CET

Europe's economic recovery, which began in the second quarter of 2013, is expected to continue spreading across countries and gaining strength while at the same time becoming more balanced.

The European Banking Federation — 24 February 2014, 16:18 CET

In its 50 years of existence, the EBF has established itself as a prominent interlocutor for the European institutions when laying out their legislative initiatives. Its aim is to ensure that the experience and the views of banks are taken into consideration in the shaping of relevant policies.

Cooperating against VAT Fraud — 06 February 2014, 19:52 CET

As part of an intensified battle against tax fraud, the European Commission on 6 February 2014 launched the process to start negotiations with Russia and Norway on administrative cooperation agreements in the area of Value Added Tax (VAT). The broad goal of these agreements would be to establish a framework of mutual assistance in combating cross-border VAT fraud and in helping each country recover the VAT it is due. VAT fraud involving third-country operators is particularly a risk in the telecoms and e-services sectors. Given the growth of these sectors, more effective tools to fight such fraud are essential to protect public budgets. Cooperation agreements with the EU's neighbours and trading partners would improve Member States' chances of identifying and clamping down on VAT fraud, and would stem the financial losses this causes. The Commission is therefore asking Member States for a mandate to start such negotiations with Russia and Norway, while continuing exploratory talks with a number of other important international partners.

Directive on criminal sanctions for market abuse — 04 February 2014, 14:46 CET

Judges imposing their countries’ maximum penalties for serious offences such as manipulating the LIBOR benchmark interest rate would have to stipulate at least four years in jail under draft rules approved by the European Parliament on 4 February 2014. These rules, which aim to restore confidence in the EU's financial markets and improve investor protection, now have to be formally approved by EU Member States.

EU Anti-Corruption Report — 03 February 2014, 16:16 CET

Corruption continues to be a challenge for Europe, according to the European Commission. Affecting all EU Member States, corruption costs the European economy around EUR 120 billion per year. Member States have taken many initiatives in recent years, but the results are seen as uneven and the Commission says more should be done to prevent and punish corruption. These are some of the conclusions from the first ever EU Anti-Corruption Report published on 3 February 2014. The EU Anti-Corruption Report explains the situation in each Member State: what anti-corruption measures are in place, which ones are working well, what could be improved and how. National chapters in English and in national languages are available here: http://ec.europa.eu/anti-corruption-report The report shows that both the nature and level of corruption, and the effectiveness of measures taken to fight it, vary from one Member State to another. It also shows that corruption deserves greater attention in all Member States.

Anti-Corruption report — 03 February 2014, 15:58 CET

Corruption continues to be a challenge for Europe - a phenomenon that costs the European economy around EUR 120 billion per year. EU Member States have taken many initiatives in recent years, but the results are uneven and the Commission believes more should be done to prevent and punish corruption. In its February 2014 report, the Commission provides a picture of the situation in each Member State: measures in place, outstanding issues, policies that are working and areas that could be improved. The report shows that the nature and scope of corruption varies from one Member State to another and that the effectiveness of anti-corruption policies is quite different. It also shows that corruption deserves greater attention in all EU Member States.