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The Eurogroup welcomes Slovenia's submission of an updated draft budgetary plan (DBP) for 2019, as requested in its statement of 3 December 2018, as well as the Commission opinion issued on 27 February 2019.
On the back of growth above potential for a number of years, Slovenia’s nominal deficit has improved strongly, from a deficit of 5.5% of GDP still in 2014 to a projected budget surplus of 0.6% of GDP this year. Public debt is falling, too, and is projected to reach 66% of GDP this year. However, taking into account the cycle, the structural effort in both 2018 and for 2019 is falling short and the growth of public expenditure is exceeding what the Council recommended.
We agree therefore with the Commission opinion that the draft budget of Slovenia is at risk of non-compliance with the requirements of the preventive arm of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP). According to the Commission assessment, Slovenia’s DBP might result in a significant deviation from the adjustment path towards its medium-term budgetary objective (MTO). Slovenia is expected to comply prima facie with the debt reduction benchmark in 2019.
The Eurogroup invites Slovenia to consider in a timely manner the necessary additional measures to address the risks identified by the Commission and to ensure that its 2019 budget will be compliant with SGP provisions.
We note that Latvia submitted its updated DBP on 19 February and that Luxembourg also intends to submit an updated DBP in the following days. We look forward to the Commission assessment of those updates.
We will continue to monitor euro area member states' fiscal and economic policies, as well as the budgetary situation of the euro area as a whole.
| Council of the European Union | |
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EU modernises consumer rights and improves their enforcement
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The EU is improving the protection of consumers' rights. Member states' ambassadors meeting in the Council's Permanent Representatives Committee agreed today on the Council's position on a draft directive which amends four existing EU directives protecting consumers' interests.
The draft directive covers a wide range of topics. It amends the unfair commercial practices directive 2005/29/EC, the consumer rights directive 2011/83/EU, the unfair contract terms directive 93/13/EEC and the price indication directive 98/6/EC. It was proposed together with a proposal on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers as part of the 'New Deal for Consumers' launched by the Commission in 2017.
| Council of the European Union | |
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Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the situation in Sudan
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The EU is closely following the situation in Sudan. Measures being adopted under the newly declared state of emergency, the increased role of the military in governing the country, further curtail fundamental freedoms and undermine the recent offer of a new political dialogue. They create a permissive climate for the security services to act with impunity against peaceful protesters. The latest attacks against unarmed students in the University of Medical Sciences and Technology and against peaceful protesters in Omdurman, are deeply disturbing.
Genuine political dialogue requires an environment in which the Sudanese people can exercise their legitimate right to express their views. This will be essential to create the national consensus needed to find sustainable responses to Sudan's deep political and economic crisis.
The EU expects the Sudanese government to release all journalists, members of the opposition, human rights defenders and other protesters in detention. Some of those with whom the dialogue is set to take place have been arbitrarily detained for over two months now. An independent investigation into the deaths and abuses should be undertaken with those responsible held to account.
The respect for these fundamental principles are at the core of the EU's phased engagement with the government of Sudan. We will continue to monitor the situation and review the impact of the Government of Sudan’s actions on its relations with the European Union.
| Συμβούλιο της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης | |
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Ανθρώπινα δικαιώματα: Διορισμός του νέου Ειδικού Εντεταλμένου της ΕΕ
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Το Συμβούλιο διόρισε σήμερα τον κ. Eamon Gilmore ως Ειδικό Εντεταλμένο της ΕΕ για τα ανθρώπινα δικαιώματα. Ο κ. Gilmore θα αντικαταστήσει τον κ. Σταύρο Λαμπρινίδη ο οποίος διορίστηκε το 2012 ως ο πρώτος Ειδικός Εντεταλμένος της ΕΕ. Ο κ. Gilmore αναλαμβάνει καθήκοντα την 1η Μαρτίου 2019 και διορίζεται αρχικά για θητεία δύο ετών.
Ο Ειδικός Εντεταλμένος της ΕΕ για τα ανθρώπινα δικαιώματα θα έχει την αποστολή να ενισχύσει την αποτελεσματικότητα και την προβολή της πολιτικής ανθρωπίνων δικαιωμάτων της ΕΕ. Η εντολή του είναι ευρεία και ευέλικτη και του προσφέρει τη δυνατότητα να προσαρμόζεται στις γεωπολιτικές εξελίξεις. Ο Ειδικός Εντεταλμένος θα συνεργάζεται στενά με την Ευρωπαϊκή Υπηρεσία Εξωτερικής Δράσης η οποία θα του παρέχει πλήρη στήριξη στο έργο του.
Ως πρώην αναπληρωτής Πρωθυπουργός και Υπουργός Εξωτερικών της Ιρλανδίας, ο κ. Eamon Gilmore ήταν ο κυβερνητικός υπεύθυνος για την εφαρμογή της Συμφωνίας της Μεγάλης Παρασκευής, συμπεριλαμβανομένων των βασικών της διατάξεων για τα ανθρώπινα δικαιώματα. Από τον Οκτώβριο του 2015, διετέλεσε Ειδικός Εντεταλμένος της Ύπατης Εκπροσώπου για την ειρηνευτική διαδικασία της Κολομβίας. Το έργο του και η συμβολή του στην ειρηνευτική διαδικασία εκτιμήθηκαν ιδιαίτερα από όλες τις πλευρές.
Οι Ειδικοί Εντεταλμένοι της ΕΕ προάγουν τις πολιτικές και τα συμφέροντα της Ένωσης σε ορισμένες περιοχές και χώρες, καθώς και ζητήματα που προβληματίζουν ή ενδιαφέρουν ιδιαιτέρως την ΕΕ. Κατέχουν δραστήριο ρόλο στις προσπάθειες παγίωσης της ειρήνης, της σταθερότητας και του κράτους δικαίου. Οι πρώτοι Ειδικοί Εντεταλμένοι της ΕΕ διορίστηκαν το 1996. Σήμερα, η ΕΕ διαθέτει οκτώ Ειδικούς Εντεταλμένους, οι οποίοι υποστηρίζουν το έργο της Ύπατης Εκπροσώπου της Ένωσης για Θέματα Εξωτερικής Πολιτικής και Πολιτικής ασφαλείας, κας Federica Mogherini.
| Council of the European Union | |
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Human rights: EU appoints a new Special Representative
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Today, the Council appointed Eamon Gilmore as EU Special Representative for Human Rights. Mr Gilmore will replace Stavros Lambrinidis, who was appointed in 2012 the first EU Special Representative. Mr Gilmore will take up his duties on 1 March 2019 and has been appointed initially for two years.
The tasks of the Special Representative for Human Rights are to enhance the effectiveness and visibility of EU human rights policy. The Special Representative has a broad, flexible mandate, which provides the possibility of adapting to evolving geopolitical circumstances. The Special Representative will work closely with the European External Action Service, which will provide full support to his work.
As former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ireland, Eamon Gilmore had government responsibility for the implemention of the Good Friday Agreement, including its core human rights provisions. Since October 2015, he has been the High Representative's Special Envoy for the Colombian Peace Process. His work and contribution to the peace process were greatly appreciated by all sides.
EU Special Representatives promote the EU's policies and interests in certain regions and countries as well as issues of particular concern or interest for the EU. They play an active role in efforts to consolidate peace, stability and the rule of law. The first EU Special Representatives were appointed in 1996. Currently, eight EUSRs support the work of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini.
| Council of the European Union | |
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Investment firms: Presidency and Parliament agree on a new regulatory and supervision framework
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The EU will soon have in place a dedicated regulatory framework for investment firms.
The Romanian presidency of the Council and the European Parliament reached today a provisional agreement on a package of measures, composed of a regulation and a directive, setting out new prudential requirements and supervisory arrangements for investment firms. The objective of the reform is to adapt the requirements to the firms' risk profiles and business models while preserving financial stability. The deal will now be submitted for endorsement by EU ambassadors.
"Investment firms play a crucial role in facilitating savings and investment flows in the EU. If they are to play their full part in the Capital Markets Union, it is essential that the rules that apply to them are tailored to meet their specific business requirements and take into account the risks they take."
Eugen Teodorovici, minister of finance of Romania
There are about 6000 investment firms in the European Economic Area. Most of them are rather small, but a limited number of investment firms hold a significant proportion of all assets and provide a very broad range of services.
Until now, all investment firms have been subject to the same capital, liquidity and risk management rules as banks. The capital requirements regulation and directive (CRR/CRD4) are based on international standards intended for banks. Therefore, they do not fully take into account the specificities of investment firms.
On the basis of the text agreed today, investment firms will be subject to the same key measures, in particular as regards capital holdings, reporting, corporate governance and remuneration, but the set of requirements they would need to apply would be differentiated according to their size, nature and complexity.
The largest firms ("class 1") would be subject to the full banking prudential regime and would be supervised as credit institutions:
- Investment firms that provides "bank-like" services, such as dealing on own account or underwriting financial instruments, and whose consolidated assets exceed EUR 15 billion would automatically be subject to CRR/CRD4;
- Investment firms engaged in "bank-like" activities with consolidated assets between EUR 5 and 15 billion could be requested to apply CRR/CRD4 by their supervisory authority, in particular if the firm's size or activities would involve risks to financial stability.
Smaller firms that are not considered systemic would enjoy a new bespoke regime with dedicated prudential requirements. These would, in general, be different from those applicable to banks, but competent authorities could allow to continue applying banking requirements to certain firms, on a case by case basis, to avoid disrupting their business models. Such an option will be framed with a safeguard preventing regulatory arbitrage, in particular through the application of lower capital requirements under CRR/CRD4 as compared to IFR in a disproportionate manner. The text also provides for a 5-year transitional period to give companies enough time to adapt to the new regime.
The agreement further strengthens the equivalence regime that would apply to third country investment firms. It sets out in greater detail some of the requirements for giving them access to the single market and grants additional powers to the Commission. In particular, the Commission is charged with assessing capital requirements applicable to firms providing bank-like services to make sure that those are equivalent to those applicable in the EU. In addition, in case the activities performed by third country firms are likely to be of systemic importance, the new regime allows the Commission to apply some specific operational conditions to an equivalence decision to ensure that ESMA and national competent authorities have the necessary tools to prevent regulatory arbitrage and monitor the activities of third country firms.
Finally, the text agreed by the Presidency and the Parliament complements the existing MIFID2/MIFIR framework by extending the "tick size" regime to systematic internalisers, thus enhancing level-playing field between systematic internalisers and trading venues.
Next steps
The political agreement will now be submitted to EU ambassadors for endorsement. It will then undergo a legal linguistic revision. Parliament and Council will be called on to adopt the proposed package of measures at first reading.
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Remarks by President Donald Tusk at the press conference after the EU-LAS summit in Egypt
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Today, we have concluded the first summit ever between the leaders of the European Union and the League of Arab States. I truly believe that it can be the beginning of a new chapter of cooperation between us.
It is time to get real about partnership between the Arab world and Europe. We are confronted by many of the same challenges, in a geo-political context that has become even more dangerous and unstable. Challenges such as dealing with international security crises and terrorism, fighting climate change and mass population displacement or ensuring sustainable growth and investment in an uncertain global economy. As close neighbours, we have no alternative but to work together on these and other issues.
The global rules-based order is clearly under threat. We have agreed here in Sharm El-Sheikh that both sides will work together to defend it. Multilateral solutions remain the best way to address threats to international peace and security. This is true whether we talk about the situations in Syria, Libya, Yemen, or the Middle East Peace process. And I am happy to say that, as we have written in our Summit declaration, we renewed our commitment to the upholding of all aspects of international human rights law.
Today leaders committed to developing a positive cooperation agenda that goes beyond managing crises and conflict. We want to develop common projects - from energy security to technology, to tourism and trade - that will encourage the investment and sustainable growth that our peoples need. And we will also work together to speedily implement the Paris Agreement.
Leaders also agreed to cooperate and coordinate on a number of security and border control issues. We will work to address the root causes of terrorism and deepen our efforts to combat the movement of foreign terrorist fighters across our borders. Violent extremists must be cut off from all forms of support. On border control and the fight against irregular migration: we will scale up our joint efforts to prevent people smuggling, eradicate trafficking in human beings and combat those who exploit vulnerable people.
This summit is only the beginning, but a very good beginning. The beginning of a frank and substantive conversation between our parts of the world. Let me conclude by thanking our League of Arab States partners for the excellent cooperation in making this Summit possible. And of course, to President Al Sisi and the Egyptian people: thank you so much for all your efforts and warm hospitality here in Sharm El-Sheikh.
In many ways, today is your success, Mr President. Thank you.
| Council of the European Union | |
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Sustainable finance: Presidency and Parliament reach political agreement on low carbon benchmarks
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The EU is building a regulatory framework to encourage investors to be more aware of the impact of their business on the environment.
The Romanian Presidency of the Council and the European Parliament reached today a preliminary agreement on a proposal creating a new category of financial benchmarks aimed at giving greater information on an investment portfolio's carbon footprint.
"The transition to a low-carbon, sustainable economy requires us to rethink how we do business, where we invest our money. Thanks to today's agreement, it will be easier for investors to select climate-conscious projects, infrastructure and technologies, so as to re-orient capital flows towards green assets."
Eugen Teodorovici, minister for finance of Romania
An increasing number of investors seek to ensure that their investments have a positive impact on the environment. To do so, they take investment decisions based on the carbon footprint generated by the projects or assets they consider, using indices that reference or measure the performance of investment portfolios. However, a wide variety of such indices currently exists, with different objectives and degrees of quality and integrity.
Therefore, the Presidency and the Parliament agreed today on a harmonised, reliable tool to pursue low-carbon investment strategies by establishing a new category, comprising two types of financial benchmarks:
- EU climate transition benchmarks, which aim to lower the carbon footprint of a standard investment portfolio. More precisely, this type of benchmarks should be determined taking into account companies that follow a measureable, science-based "decarbonisation trajectory" by end-2022, in light of the long-term global warming target of the Paris agreement.
- EU Paris-aligned benchmarks, which have the more ambitious goal to select only components that contribute to attaining the 2°C reduction set out in the Paris climate agreement.
In addition, the text provides an obligation for all benchmarks or families of benchmarks to provide an explanation of how environmental, social and governance factors are reflected in their investment strategy, as well as how the methodology aligns with the target of reducing carbon emissions.
Finally, the text reviews existing provisions of the benchmarks regulation by providing an extension of the transition regime for critical and third-country benchmarks until the end of 2021.
Next steps
Subject to technical finalisation of the text, the political agreement will now be submitted to EU ambassadors for endorsement. It will then undergo a legal linguistic revision. Parliament and Council will be called on to adopt the proposed regulation at first reading.
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