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Easier access to EU funds - guide by EUbusiness — last modified 08 February 2012, 23:28 CET

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.

Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union - guide by EUbusiness — last modified 03 February 2012, 00:36 CET

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".

Commission prohibits proposed merger between Deutsche Börse AG and NYSE Euronext - guide by EUbusiness — last modified 01 February 2012, 19:55 CET

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.

Consumer credit websites - EC investigation - guide by EUbusiness — last modified 13 January 2012, 23:10 CET

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.

Communication on e-commerce - guide by EUbusiness — last modified 11 January 2012, 15:57 CET

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.

Financial Reporting: burden reduction for micro-entities - guide by EUbusiness — last modified 15 December 2011, 23:34 CET

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.

EU Economic governance "Six-Pack" - guide by EUbusiness — last modified 12 December 2011, 15:59 CET

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.

EU budget proposals for its external instruments from 2014-2020 - guide by EUbusiness — last modified 07 December 2011, 19:30 CET

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.

Venture capital for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) - guide by EUbusiness — last modified 07 December 2011, 20:16 CET

The EU Action Plan to improve access to finance for SMEs presents the various EU policies and measures to make access to finance easier for Europe's 23 million SMEs. It covers actions to improve the venture capital market and facilitate access to financial resources. It contains also financial products to ease access to bank lending, for an amount of at least € 20 billion allocated to SMEs from the new Multiannual Financial Framework. A new survey published today shows that difficult access to finance is among the top concerns (15%) of SMEs. Almost two-thirds (63%) of the EU SMEs who applied for a bank loan during the last six months received the whole amount they asked for. However, 11% of the applications were rejected and 17% received less than they applied for. In addition 4% declined the loan offer from the bank because they found the conditions unacceptable. So about one third of the SMEs did not get the finance they had planned for.

European Commission Green Paper on the feasibility of introducing Stability Bonds - guide by EUbusiness — last modified 23 November 2011, 18:42 CET

The Green Paper published by the European Commission today structures the political debate in the EU on the rationale, pre-conditions and possible options of financing public debt through Stability Bonds. Such common issuance of bonds by the euro-area Member States would imply a significant deepening of Economic and Monetary Union. It would create new means through which governments finance their debt, by offering safe and liquid investment opportunities for savers and financial institutions and by setting up a euro-area wide integrated bond market that matches its US Dollar counterpart in terms of size and liquidity. The fiscal framework underlying EMU would similarly undergo a substantial change, as Stability Bonds would need to be accompanied by closer and stricter fiscal surveillance to ensure budgetary discipline. Some of the options for the design of Stability Bonds considered in the Green Paper might require a Treaty change. Regardless of any necessary time for implementation, agreement on common issuance could have an immediate impact on market expectations and thereby lower average and marginal funding costs for those Member States currently facing funding pressures.

New action for growth, governance and stability - guide by EUbusiness — last modified 23 November 2011, 18:28 CET

The package contains four elements: the 2012 Annual Growth Survey setting out the economic priorities for the coming year; two Regulations to tighten economic and budgetary surveillance in the euro area; and a Green Paper on Stability Bonds.

EU legislative proposal on credit rating agencies (CRAs) - guide by EUbusiness — last modified 15 November 2011, 19:31 CET

Credit rating agencies (CRAs) are major players in today's financial markets, with rating actions having a direct impact on the actions of investors, borrowers, issuers and governments. For example, a corporate downgrade can have consequences on the capital a bank must hold and a downgrade of sovereign debt makes a country's borrowing more expensive. Despite the adoption of European legislation on credit rating agencies in 2009 and 2010, recent developments in the context of the euro debt crisis have shown our existing regulatory framework is not good enough. So, today the Commission has put forward proposals to toughen that framework further and deal with outstanding weaknesses.

FISCUS programme for taxation and customs 2014-20 - guide by EUbusiness — last modified 09 November 2011, 14:53 CET

EU Customs and Taxation policy make a substantial contribution in helping to raise revenues for the EU and Member States' budgets every year. In addition, these policies deliver considerable benefits to EU citizens and business, whether it is through blocking unsafe or illegal imports, facilitating smooth trade and a strong Internal Market, or cutting compliance costs and red tape for cross-border companies. In order to build on this work and be fully equipped to meet future challenges in these fields, the European Commission today adopted a proposal for the FISCUS programme. With a budget of EUR 777.6 million, the programme will run for 7 years from January 1 2014.

Proposal for Directive on transparency requirements for listed companies and proposals on country by country reporting - guide by EUbusiness — last modified 26 October 2011, 18:02 CET

The European Commission has proposed amendments to the existing Directive on transparency requirements for listed companies and to the Directives on accounting rules for annual accounts and consolidated accounts, inter alia to introduce country by country reporting, as part of a Responsible Business Initiative package of measures.

Review of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) and Proposals for a Regulation on Market Abuse and for a Directive on Criminal Sanctions for Market Abuse: guide on Emission Allowances by EUbusiness — last modified 20 October 2011, 16:55 CET

Drawing lessons from the 2008 financial crisis, the G20 agreed at the 2009 Pittsburgh summit on the need to improve the transparency and oversight of less regulated markets – including derivatives markets - and to address the issue of excessive price volatility in commodity derivatives markets. In response to this, the European Commission has today tabled proposals to revise the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID). These proposals consist of a Directive and a Regulation and aim to make financial markets more efficient, resilient and transparent, and to strengthen the protection of investors. The new framework will also increase the supervisory powers of regulators and provide clear operating rules for all trading activities. Similar discussions are taking place in the United States and other major global financial centres.

Proposals for a Regulation on Market Abuse and for a Directive on Criminal Sanctions for Market Abuse - guide by EUbusiness — last modified 20 October 2011, 16:36 CET

In recent years financial markets have become increasingly global, giving rise to new trading platforms and technologies. This unfortunately has also led to new possibilities to manipulate these markets. As part of its work to make financial markets more sound and transparent, the European Commission today adopted a proposal for a Regulation on insider dealing and market manipulation (i.e. market abuse). The proposal aims to update and strengthen the existing framework to ensure market integrity and investor protection provided by the Market Abuse Directive (2003/6/EC). The new framework will ensure regulation keeps pace with market developments, will strengthen the fight against market abuse across commodity and related derivative markets, reinforce the investigative and sanctioning powers of regulators and reduce administrative burdens on small and medium-sized issuers.

OLAF's 2011 Annual Operational Report by EUbusiness — last modified 19 October 2011, 23:08 CET

OLAF Annual Operational Report 2011 : Investigations resulted in €68 million recovered and fraudsters sentenced to 125 years' imprisonment in 2010

A pilot for Europe 2020 Project Bond Initiative - EC legislative proposal - guide by EUbusiness — last modified 19 October 2011, 22:56 CET

The European Commission has tabled a plan which will fund EUR 50 billion worth of investment to improve Europe's transport, energy and digital networks. The "Connecting Europe Facility" will finance projects which fill the missing links in Europe's energy, transport and digital backbone. To assist with the financing of the Connecting Europe Facility, the Commission has also adopted the terms for the Europe 2020 Project Bond Initiative which will be one of a number of risk-sharing instruments upon which the facility may draw in order to attract private finance in projects. The pilot phase will start next year.

Cohesion: legislative package of EU regional, employment and social policy for 2014-2020 - guide by EUbusiness — last modified 06 October 2011, 14:16 CET

Cohesion policy is implemented through programmes which run for the duration of the EU seven-year budget cycle. The current 455 programmes are foreseen until 2013. This is why it is necessary to define the architecture of the policy for the new generation of programmes and allocations for 2014-20. Today’s legislative package includes an overarching regulation setting out common rules governing the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF), the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). One set of rules instead of 5. Three specific regulations for the ERDF, the ESF and the Cohesion Fund will also be included, as well as two regulations dealing with the European territorial cooperation goal and the European grouping of territorial cooperation (EGTC). The Commission also adopted proposals for two instruments in the area of employment and social policy, namely the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) and the Programme for Social Change and Innovation (PSCI), as well as a communication on the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF).

2010 report on European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) - guide by EUbusiness — last modified 23 August 2011, 22:41 CET

Nearly 23,700 workers dismissed due to economic crisis and major structural changes in world trade patterns were helped by the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) last year, according to a report adopted on 22 August by the European Commission – more than double the number of workers helped by the Fund in 2009. The EUR 83.5 million paid out by the EU's Globalisation Fund to nine Member States are intended to help the national authorities as they support dismissed workers in finding new job opportunities.