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- Commission fine for Electrabel for implementing acquisition of Compagnie Nationale du Rhône without prior Commission approval - briefing by EUbusiness — last modified 11 June 2009, 22:30 CET
- The European Commission has decided to impose a fine of EUR 20 million on Electrabel, an electricity producer and retailer belonging to the Suez Group (now GDF Suez) for acquiring control of Compagnie Nationale du Rhône (CNR), another electricity producer, without having received prior approval under the EU Merger Regulation. The Commission concluded that the infringement lasted for a significant period and that Electrabel should have been aware of its obligation to receive Commission approval before proceeding with the acquisition. The EU Merger Regulation requires concentrations of a European dimension to be notified to the Commission before their implementation so that the Commission can examine whether a concentration would significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it. This is known as the 'standstill obligation'.
- Shared Commitment for Employment - briefing by EUbusiness — last modified 03 June 2009, 18:58 CET
- The EU will make available EUR 19 billion of planned European Social Fund expenditure to support people hit by the economic crisis. Together with the European Investment Bank Group and other partners, a new EU loans facility will be set up to provide micro-credits for those who would usually have difficulty accessing the necessary funds to set up a business or a micro-enterprise.
- Financial Supervision - briefing by EUbusiness — last modified 28 May 2009, 23:51 CET
- The European Commission has adopted a Communication on Financial Supervision in Europe. The Communication proposes a set of ambitious reforms to the current architecture of financial services committees, with the creation of a new European Systemic Risk Council (ESRC) and European System of Financial Supervisors (ESFS), composed of new European Supervisory Authorities. Legislation to embody these proposals will follow in the autumn. The Commission also invites all interested parties to submit their reactions on the Communication before 15 July.
- Communication on packaged retail investment products (PRIPs) - briefing by EUbusiness — last modified 29 April 2009, 23:52 CET
- The European Commission has committed to delivering important improvements to investor protection measures for the main investment products bought by retail investors. Inconsistencies in existing standards can be detrimental to investors and can lead to competitive distortions in the retail investment market. The Commission's conclusions, set out in the Communication on Packaged Retail Investment Products, are that product information requirements and rules on product sales need to be improved and made more coherent. The Communication outlines proposals for a new, horizontal legislative approach, drawing on the best of existing requirements and applying these to all relevant products. The Commission will now begin work on the detailed legislative proposals required for this new approach, and will provide an orientation on the work by the end of 2009.
- Recommendation on directors' remuneration - briefing by EUbusiness — last modified 29 April 2009, 23:48 CET
- The European Commission has adopted a Recommendation on the regime for the remuneration of directors of listed companies, complementing previous Recommendations 2004/913/EC and 2005/162/EC. The Commission says that an appropriate remuneration policy should ensure pay for performance and stimulate directors to ensure the medium and long term sustainability of the company. The existing Directors' remuneration Recommendation is based on the idea of pay for performance through disclosure of the remuneration policy. The new Recommendation will give further guidance on achieving this by setting out best practices for the design of an appropriate remuneration policy. To this end, it focuses on certain aspects of the structure of directors' remuneration and the process of determining directors' remuneration, including shareholder supervision. The Commission has also adopted a Recommendation on remuneration policy in the financial services sector.
- Recommendation on remuneration in financial services sector - briefing by EUbusiness — last modified 29 April 2009, 23:38 CET
- The European Commission has adopted a Recommendation on remuneration in the financial services sector. It recommends that EU Member States ensure that financial institutions have remuneration policies for risk-taking staff that are consistent with and promote sound and effective risk-management. The Recommendation sets out guidelines on the structure of pay, on the process of design and implementation of remuneration policies and on the role of supervisory authorities in the review of remuneration policies of financial institutions. The Commission has also adopted a Recommendation on directors' pay.
- Directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFMs) - briefing by EUbusiness — last modified 29 April 2009, 23:32 CET
- The European Commission has proposed a Directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM). The proposed Directive forms part of the European Commission's response to the financial crisis, as set out in the Communication on Driving European Recovery. It aims to create a comprehensive and effective regulatory and supervisory framework for AIFM in the European Union. AIFM, which include the managers of hedge funds and private equity funds, managed around EUR 2 trillion in assets at the end of 2008. This is the first attempt in any jurisdiction to create a comprehensive framework for the direct regulation and supervision in the alternative fund industry. The proposal now passes to the European Parliament and Council for consideration.
- E-money and cross-border payments - briefing by EUbusiness — last modified 27 April 2009, 00:07 CET
- The European Parliament on 24 April adopted two legislative proposals revising the current rules governing cross-border payments and the conditions for issuing electronic money in the EU. Both legal texts will now be forwarded to the EU Council for final adoption. The new Regulation on cross-border payments will apply as from 1st November 2009, the final deadline for the transposition of the Payment Services Directive. As for the new E-Money Directive, the Member States should transpose the Directive by 2011 at the latest into national law.
- EUR 866m European Investment Bank loans for cleaner cars - briefing by EUbusiness — last modified 07 April 2009, 19:05 CET
- The European Investment Bank’s Board of Directors has approved loans to European-based car makers worth a total of EUR 866m to help design and build cleaner cars with lower CO2 emissions.
- Financial Reporting: burden reduction for micro-entities - briefing by EUbusiness — last modified 26 February 2009, 18:09 CET
- The European Commission has put forward a new proposal which would allow EU Member States to completely abolish financial reporting obligations for the EU's smallest companies. In a deteriorating economic climate, the new rules are designed to alleviate the regulatory burden on micro entities. The aggregate administrative burden reduction potential is estimated at around EUR 6.3 billion. The proposal, which was flagged in the European Economic Recovery Plan in November 2008, now passes to the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers for consideration.
- EU support to fight the crisis in the automotive sector by EUbusiness — last modified 25 February 2009, 23:24 CET
- The European automotive sector, with 12 million jobs depending on this strategic industry, has been hit particularly hard by the current economic crisis with new registrations down by 20 per cent and gloomy expectations for 2009. Due to its close links to other sectors and the wide spread of supply industry and vehicle trade, the negative economic effects reaches out to millions of employees in all EU Member States. In today's communication, the European Commission defends a proactive stance to support industry in their efforts to withstand the crisis, soften negative effects and ensure long-term competitiveness. Building on the European Economic Recovery Plan of 2008, it sets various measures to improve access to credit, to clarify the rules for granting state aid in the particular circumstances, to boost the demand for new vehicles through coordinated national action, to minimise social costs and retain the skilled workforce and to defend fair competition in open markets. The Commission suggests a new partnership with industry, trade unions and EU Member States in the context of the CARS 21 process to accompany the common crisis response.
- Review of the VAT invoicing rules - briefing by EUbusiness — last modified 29 January 2009, 15:06 CET
- The European Commission adopted a proposal on 28 January to change the VAT Directive 2006/112/EC in respect to the invoicing rules, based on a Communication on the technological developments in the field of electronic invoicing. The aim of the proposal is to increase the use of electronic invoicing, reduce burdens on business, support small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and help EU Member States to tackle fraud. The proposal simplifies, modernises and harmonises the VAT invoicing rules. In particular, it eliminates the current barriers to e-invoicing in the VAT Directive by treating paper and electronic invoices equally. The proposal is a key element of the Commission's Action Programme to reduce burdens on business by 25% by 2012, and is part of the Commission's strategy to combat VAT fraud more efficiently.
- The EU and Germany's Volkswagen law - briefing by EUbusiness — last modified 27 November 2008, 15:29 CET
- The European Commission decided on 27 November to ask Germany formally to modify the 1960 law privatising Volkswagen (VW law) following a ruling of 23 October 2007 by the European Court of Justice. The Court found that three provisions of the VW law attribute unjustified special rights to German public authorities (the Land of Lower Saxony and potentially also the Federal Government) and that by maintaining them in force, Germany has failed to fulfil its obligations under the EC Treaty rules on the free movement of capital (Article 56). The request for compliance with the Court ruling takes the form of a ‘reasoned opinion’, the second stage of the infringement procedure under Article 228 of the EC Treaty related to compliance with Court of Justice rulings. In the absence of a satisfactory reply from Germany within two months of receiving the reasoned opinion, the Commission may decide to refer the matter to the European Court of Justice.
- European Economic Recovery Plan - briefing by EUbusiness — last modified 26 November 2008, 15:02 CET
- The European Commission presented on 26 November a comprehensive plan to drive Europe's recovery from the current economic crisis. The Recovery Plan is based on two mutually reinforcing main elements. Firstly, short-term measures to boost demand, save jobs and help restore confidence. Secondly, "smart investment" to yield higher growth and sustainable prosperity in the longer-term. The Plan calls for a timely, targeted and temporary fiscal stimulus of around EUR 200 billion or 1.5% of EU GDP, within both national budgets (around EUR 170 billion, 1.2% of GDP) and EU and European Investment Bank budgets (around EUR 30 billion, 0.3% of GDP). Every EU Member State is called upon to take major measures good for its own citizens and good for the rest of Europe. The Recovery Plan includes extensive action at national and EU level to help households and industry and concentrate support on the most vulnerable. It puts forward concrete steps to promote entrepreneurship, research and innovation, including in the car and construction industries. The Recovery Plan aims to boost efforts to tackle climate change while creating much-needed jobs at the same time, through for example strategic investment in energy efficient buildings and technologies.
- EU credit rating agencies proposal - briefing by EUbusiness — last modified 12 November 2008, 15:21 CET
- The European Commission has put forward a proposal for a Regulation on credit rating agencies. This proposal is part of a package of proposals to deal with the financial crisis and adds to Commission's proposals on Solvency II, Capital Requirements Directive, Deposit Guarantee Schemes and accounting. The new rules are designed to ensure high quality credit ratings which are not tainted by the conflicts of interest which are inherent to the ratings business.
- European trade strengths in a changing global economy - briefing by EUbusiness — last modified 28 October 2008, 12:42 CET
- A report published on 27 October 2008 by the European Commission has assessed the competitiveness of the European Union in the global economy at the end of a decade of rapid economic change. Since the mid-1990s, there has been a major redistribution of market share between emerging and developed countries and among developed countries themselves. In this highly competitive environment, the EU has broadly maintained its world market share, while the US and Japan have lost ground. The EU remains the world's biggest exporter of manufactured goods, and dominates markets for high-quality products. The report warns, however, that the EU needs to focus on investment in its high-technology manufacturing and continue to improve its market share in the fast growing economies of Asia. The report reinforces the economic arguments behind the launch of the European Commission's Global Europe trade policy framework in 2006.
- Cross-border euro payments - briefing by EUbusiness — last modified 16 October 2008, 01:39 CET
- The European Commission has put forward a proposal modifying the provisions and extending the scope of the 2001 Regulation on cross-border euro payments, under which cross-border bank transfers in euro within the EU cost the same as domestic transfers. The proposal comes in response to the rapid evolution of the EU payments market. It aims at extending the principle of equality of charges to direct debit payments. It also contains some provisions enhancing the protection of consumer interests and rights and alleviating the statistical reporting burden.
- Europe's response to the Financial Crisis by EUbusiness — last modified 14 October 2008, 23:28 CET
- The immediate priorities for the European Union have been to restore confidence and to protect ordinary citizens. Europe has achieved an unprecedented level of coordination in dealing with this unprecedented crisis.
- Electronic money proposal - briefing by EUbusiness — last modified 14 October 2008, 17:15 CET
- The European Commission has put forward a proposal revising the current rules governing the conditions for issuing electronic money in the EU. The proposal follows extensive consultation which showed that the current rules, dating from 2000, have hindered the take-up of the electronic money market, hampering technological innovation. The revised rules will facilitate market entrance for new providers and contribute to develop an industry whose expected volume could reach up to EUR 10 billion by 2012.
- Excise duty on tobacco products - guide by EUbusiness — last modified 16 July 2008, 21:51 CET
- The European Commission presented on 16 July a Report and a proposal for a Directive to amend the current EU excise duty legislation on tobacco. The draft EU Directive foresees a gradual increase in the EU minimum taxation levels on cigarettes and fine cut tobacco up to 2014. It also updates the definitions of different types of tobacco products so as to remove loopholes which allow certain cigarettes or fine cut tobacco to be presented as cigars, cigarillos or pipe tobacco and therefore benefiting from a lower tax rate. Today's proposal will narrow differences between EU Member States' tobacco taxation levels and so help tackle intra-EU tobacco smuggling. It would also make the taxation rules more transparent, thereby creating a level playing field for manufacturers and giving flexibility to Member States to set minimum taxes. It also aims to contribute to reducing tobacco consumption by 10 per cent within the next 5 years.