European Union

Meeting room in the Dutch maritime museum where finance ministers will gather on Friday

Coming to terms with painful truths can take a long time, and the EU’s struggle to acknowledge an original sin built into its banking regulations is a case in point.

It’s a problem that dates back decades, and that finance ministers are going to tentatively grapple with at an informal meeting in Amsterdam this week. It centres on the regulatory treatment of sovereign debt, and we’ve got our hands on the options paper prepared for ministers by the Dutch presidency and posted it here.

While the subject may sound arcane, it’s extremely politically charged. The latest ructions over how to treat bank holdings in government debt are fanning the already hot flames of discord between Rome and Berlin, with Brussels as ever squeezed uncomfortably in the middle.

So what’s the problem? The EU has highly detailed legislation covering different aspects of banks’ activities, in order to ensure that institutions have enough financial reserves to cope with the risks that they are taking with their investments.

The rules cover everything from mortgage lending to complex trading in derivatives, but they have one glaring loophole, namely that many of the normal requirements, such as capital rules and exposure limits, don’t apply to banks’ purchases of European governments’ own debt.

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On 21 April 2016, the Council adopted the final text of a directive strengthening rights of children in criminal proceedings.  The directive provides a number of procedural safeguards for children (i.e. individuals below 18) who are suspected or accused of having committed a criminal offence. The directive includes additional safeguards compared to those that already apply to suspected and accused adults.

A core provision of the directive relates to assistance from a lawyer. Member states should make sure that suspected or accused children are assisted by a lawyer, where necessary by providing legal aid, unless assistance by a lawyer is not  proportionate in the light of the circumstances of the case.  Other important provisions of the directive concern the provision of information on rights, the right to have an individual assessment, to a medical examination, and to audio-visual recording of questioning. It also provides special safeguards for children during deprivation of liberty, in particular during detention.

This final adoption of the directive follows a political agreement  between the two legislators in December 2015 and the subsequent approval by the European Parliament on 9 March 2016. Once published in the EU Official Journal, member states will have three years to transpose the provisions into their national laws. Denmark, the UK and Ireland have opted out of this directive and will not be bound by it.

Background

Since 2009, the work in the European Union on strengthening procedural rights for suspects and accused persons in criminal proceedings has been carried out on the basis of the roadmap, which was adopted by the Council on 30 November 2009. The roadmap sets out a gradual approach towards establishing a full catalogue of procedural rights for suspects and accused persons in criminal proceedings.

Four directives have already been adopted on the basis of the roadmap: Directive 2010/64/EU on the right to interpretation and translation, Directive 2012/13/EU on the right to information, Directive 2013/48/EU on the right of access to a lawyer, and Directive 2016/343/EU on the presumption of innocence and the right to be present at the trial.

On 21 April 2016, the Council approved the conclusion of an agreement with San Marino aimed at improving tax compliance by private savers.

The agreement will contribute to efforts to clamp down on tax evasion, by requiring the EU member states and San Marino to exchange information automatically.

This will allow their tax administrations improved cross-border access to information on the financial accounts of each other's residents.

The agreement upgrades a 2004 agreement that ensured that San Marino applied measures equivalent to those in an EU directive on the taxation of savings income. The aim is to extend the automatic exchange of information on financial accounts in order to prevent taxpayers from hiding capital representing income or assets for which tax has not been paid.

The new agreement was signed on 8 December 2015, when similar agreements were concluded with Liechtenstein and Switzerland. It was concluded (on 21 April) at a meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council, without discussion.

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Disclaimer : The interpretation of debates serves to facilitate communication and does not constitute an authentic record of proceedings. Only the original speech or the revised written translation is authentic.
Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

On 19 April 2016 the Netherlands presidency reached an informal agreement with the European Parliament regarding the opening of the domestic rail passenger markets in the member states and the strengthening of the independence of rail infrastructure managers to ensure effective and non-discriminatory access to infrastructure. The agreement is provisional and subject to approval by the Council.

The negotiators reached agreement on all three proposals of the 'market' pillar of the 4th railway package: a revised regulation governing public service contracts, a revised directive on establishing a single European railway area and a regulation repealing the regulation on the normalisation of accounts of railway undertakings. 

The new rules aim to improve the quality and efficiency of rail services in Europe. They should encourage investment and innovation as well as fair competition in the rail market. Together with the technical pillar of the 4th railway package, they are an important step towards the completion of the single European rail area. 

The Dutch State Secretary of the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, Sharon Dijksma, said: "Thanks to the cooperation and the flexibility of all parties involved, we have reached an ambitious provisional agreement. When this agreement is endorsed by the member states, it will improve the quality and efficiency of railway services in Europe". 

The presidency will submit the outcome of the negotiations for approval by member states at a meeting of the Permanent Representatives Committee on 27 April. 

OPINION on a new forward-looking and innovative future strategy on trade and investment
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Tokia Saïfi

Source : © European Union, 2016 - EP

1. The increasing use of hybrid strategies and operations by state and non-state actors in the immediate and wider EU neighbourhood requires swift and appropriate action to prevent and counter hybrid threats to the Union and its Member States as well as partners. The Council underlines the need to mobilise EU instruments to this end, in line with the Conclusions by the European Council of June 2015 and the Council Conclusions on CSDP of May 2015, while recognising the primary responsibility of Member States for security and defence and taking into account relevant ongoing work as regards both internal and external policies.
2. In this context, the Council welcomes the Joint Communication on countering hybrid threats and fostering resilience of the EU and its Member States as well as partners. It invites the relevant Council instances, the European Defence Agency and other relevant bodies to examine, in a timely and coherent manner, the proposed actions, with due respect for respective procedures and the competences of the Member States, the Commission and the High Representative, ensuring a cross-sectoral approach and appropriate follow-up. The Council also invites Member States to consider establishing a European Centre of Excellence.
3. The Council welcomes the intention of the High Representative to create an EU Hybrid Fusion Cell, and highlights the possible CSDP contributions to countering hybrid threats and the need for closer dialogue, cooperation and coordination with NATO, respecting the principles of inclusiveness and autonomy of decision-making of each organisation, as well as with other partner organisations.
4. The Council invites the Commission and the High Representative to provide a report by July 2017 to assess progress.

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The list of big American tech companies being investigated by Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s competition chief, for either antitrust violations or sweetheart tax deals already reads like a “who’s who” of Silicon Valley: Google, Amazon, Apple. Her proclivity for going after US companies, particularly in her tax investigations (American non-tech groups like McDonald’s and Starbucks have also been targeted), has already raised eyebrows in Washington, where Treasury officials and members of Congress have accused her of an anti-American bias.

Ms Vestager has denied singling out US firms, and if she is at all chastened by the American criticism, she’s not showing it: as early as tomorrow, she is expected to roll out a second antitrust case against Google, this time accusing the California company of abusing its dominant position in smartphone operating systems to foist its suite of apps on unsuspecting consumers.

In a speech yesterday, the former Danish economy minister compared Google’s practices to the mother of all EU-US tech antitrust cases, the 1990s-era battle with Microsoft. The comparison is apt for two reasons. First is for the reason Ms Vestager intended: during the time when computing was dominated by PCs, desktops running Microsoft’s ubiquitous Windows operating systems would come “bundled” with a wide range of other Microsoft software, most importantly its Explorer internet browser. Such bundling gradually destroyed browser inventor (and onetime market leader) Netscape, since nobody needed its Navigator browser if your PC came with Explorer.

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On 19 April 2016, the Council approved the establishment of a military training mission in the Central African Republic (EUTM RCA) to contribute to the country's defence sector reform. 

The mission will be based in Bangui and operate for an initial period of two years. Following up an EU military advisory mission (EUMAM RCA), it will work towards a modernised, effective, inclusive and democratically accountable Central African Armed Forces (FACA). It will provide strategic advice to the CAR's Ministry of Defence and the general staff, as well as education and training to the FACA. 

EUTM RCA will operate in accordance with political and strategic objectives set out in the crisis management concept approved by the Council on 14 March 2016. 

EUMAM RCA was established on 19 January 2015. In close cooperation with the United Nations multidimensional integrated stabilization mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), EUMAM RCA advises the military authorities of the CAR on the reforms necessary to transform the country's armed forces into a professional, democratically controlled and ethnically representative army. Its mandate expires on 16 July 2016.