http://www.eubusiness.com Guides on the EU policy on Finance. daily 1 2010-07-27T18:26:45Z http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/finance/project-bonds The European Commission, Parliament and Council have agreed on a proposal for a pilot phase of Project Bonds. The Project Bond Initiative by the EU and the European Investment Bank will support the financing of commercially viable infrastructure projects in the area of transport, energy and communications infrastructure. The main objective is to attract debt capital market financing at a time when these projects are heavily dependent on bank lending, which is hardly available with long-term maturities. No publisher eub2 Finance 2012-05-23T15:56:48Z Guide http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/finance/money-laundering-2 In light of the recent adoption of revised international standards and of the European Commission's own review process, a report on the application of the Third Anti-Money Laundering Directive was adopted by the Commission on 11 April. The Report analyses how the different elements of the existing framework have been applied and considers how the framework may need to be changed. It contains an examination of the provisions of the Directive, and in general concludes that although the existing framework appears to work well and that no fundamental shortcomings have been identified which would require substantial changes, some modifications are necessary to adapt to the evolving threats posed. The Commission plans to bring forward a proposal for a fourth anti-money laundering Directive in autumn 2012. No publisher eub2 Finance Crime 2012-04-16T15:53:08Z Guide http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/finance/derivatives-2 EU legislation to make trade over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives safer and more transparent was approved by an overwhelming majority in Parliament on 29 March. Derivatives trading is widely believed to have contributed to the global financial crisis. The draft regulation had been provisionally agreed by Parliament and Council negotiators on 9 February. No publisher eub2 Finance 2012-03-29T21:42:03Z Guide http://www.eubusiness.com/europe/greece/taskforce-1 The European Commission's Task Force for Greece has presented its second report on the EU support to Greece. It was created to help Greece implement its challenging reform agenda, which is designed to return to growth and create jobs. The Task Force was set up by by EC President Barroso in July 2011. This second report describes progress made in accelerating Greece's absorption capacity of EU funds (above EU average) and in setting up and implementing technical assistance (TA) to Greece in nine key areas with the support of around twenty Member States, the Commission and the IMF. No publisher eub2 Finance Greece 2012-03-15T22:07:03Z Guide http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/finance/securities-2 As part of its ongoing efforts to create a sounder financial system, the European Commission has proposed to set up a European common regulatory framework for the institutions responsible for securities settlement, called Central Securities Depositories (CSDs). The proposal, it says, will bring more safety and efficiency to securities settlement in Europe. It also seeks to shorten the time it takes for securities settlement and to minimise settlement fails. No publisher eub2 Finance 2012-03-07T21:24:24Z Guide http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/finance/pensions-3 The EU has put forward a range of plans for adequate, safe and sustainable pensions. How does the economic crisis affect the pensions situation in the European Union? No publisher eub2 Finance Social 2012-02-16T21:37:58Z Guide http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/finance/six-pack-alert The EU’s new rules on economic governance, the so-called "six-pack" has two legs: fiscal and macroeconomic surveillance. The macroeconomic imbalances procedure is a new tool that helps detect and correct risky economic developments. Its first ever annual Alert Mechanism Report (AMR), adopted today, kicks-off the surveillance. The European Commission identifies 12 EU Member States whose macroeconomic situation needs to be analysed in more depth. It is only these subsequent in-depth reviews that will assess whether or not imbalances exist and whether or not they are harmful. No publisher eub2 Finance 2012-02-14T18:06:34Z Guide http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/sme/funds-access Since the presentation of its proposal for the next multi-annual financial framework (MFF) last June, the European Commission has proposed over 120 changes to simplify the rules governing EU funding for Small and Medium Enterprises, towns and regions, students, scientists and others. Today's communication "A simplification agenda for the 2014-2020 MFF" brings them altogether in one single document. The key question now is whether the European Parliament and the Member States are ready to make the life of EU funds' beneficiaries easier by reducing the administrative burden on them. No publisher eub2 SMEs Finance 2012-02-08T22:28:16Z Guide http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/finance/treaty-stability-12 At the informal summit on 30 January a new Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union was finalised by all EU Member States with the exception of the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic. The Treaty aims to strengthen fiscal discipline through the introduction of more automatic sanctions and stricter surveillance, and in particular through the "balanced budget rule". No publisher eub2 Finance Institutions 2012-02-02T22:36:48Z Guide http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/finance/euronext-1 The European Commission has prohibited, on the basis of the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed merger between Deutsche Börse and NYSE Euronext, as it would have resulted in a quasi-monopoly in the area of European financial derivatives traded globally on exchanges. Together, the two exchanges control more than 90% of global trade in these products. The Commission says its investigation showed that new competitors would be unlikely to enter the market successfully enough to pose a credible competitive threat to the merged company. The companies offered, in particular, to sell certain assets and to provide access to their clearinghouse for some categories of new contracts, but overall, the commitments were inadequate to solve the identified competition concerns. No publisher eub2 Finance mergers 2012-02-01T17:55:03Z Guide http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/consumer/credit-websites Were you ever about to sign a contract for a personal loan, credit card, or other consumer credit and discovered that it was all working out more expensive than you had first expected? An EU-wide investigation of websites offering consumer credit took place to check whether consumers are receiving the information to which they are entitled under EU consumer law before signing a consumer credit contract. National enforcement authorities checked more than 500 websites across the 27 Member States plus Norway and Iceland. They flagged 70% (393) of sites for further investigation in relation to the following main problems: the advertising did not include the required standard information; the offers omitted key information that is essential for making a decision; the costs were presented in a misleading way. National enforcement authorities will now contact financial institutions and credit intermediaries about suspected irregularities and ask them to clarify or take corrective action. The sweep operation checked in particular how business is applying the Consumer Credit Directive (recently transposed in Member States), which aims to make it easier for consumers to understand and compare credit offers. No publisher eub2 Consumer Finance 2012-01-13T22:10:57Z Guide http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/internet/ecommerce-12 The European Commission has adopted a Communication presenting 16 targeted initiatives aimed at doubling the share of e-commerce in retail sales (currently 3.4 %) and that of the Internet sector in European GDP (currently less than 3 %) by 2015. No publisher eub2 Finance Internet 2012-01-11T14:57:36Z Guide http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/sme/micro-entities The European Parliament has voted to approve measures to considerably simplify life for more than 5 million of the smallest companies in Europe. The measures will allow these companies to benefit from a very simple system of financial reporting, which will mean they can free up resources to invest in their businesses and deliver further growth. No publisher eub2 SMEs Finance 2011-12-15T22:34:22Z Guide http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/finance/six-pack On 13th December 2011, the reinforced Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) enters into force with a new set of rules for economic and fiscal surveillance. These new measures, the so-called "Six-Pack", are made of five regulations and one directive proposed by the European Commission and approved by all 27 Member States and the European Parliament last October. No publisher eub2 Finance 2011-12-12T13:59:34Z Guide http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/development/budget-14-20 The European Commission adopted budget proposals for its external instruments from 2014-2020 on 7 December. They will allow the European Union to fulfil its responsibility on the global stage: fighting poverty and promoting democracy, peace, stability and prosperity. The range of instruments will support developing countries as well as countries in the European neighbourhood and those that are preparing accession into the EU. The Commission is seeking to target its resources where it says they are most needed, where they will have the highest impact while ensuring more flexibility to be able to react swiftly to unforeseen events. This budget will also enable the EU to further reinforce its role on the global stage and promote its interests and values. No publisher eub2 Development Finance 2011-12-07T18:30:52Z Guide