EU to enforce rules on online payments
The European Payments Service Directive II (PSD2), in force since January 2018, is currently stirring debate among Member States regarding the process of its implementation. The Directive is designed to harmonize and simplify money transfers inside the EU, decrease fraud in online payments, and inform consumers about the rights and obligations. The revised PSD2 extends […]
EU to review European Financial Benchmarks
As a result of the manipulation of two prominent benchmarks – the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (EURIBOR) – the EU adopted the Benchmark Regulation (BMR) on indices used in financial instruments and contracts or to measure the performance of investment funds in January 2018. The European Commission has […]
EU guidelines on International Procurement Instrument
The European Commission released a new communication, guiding the participation of third country bidders and goods in the EU procurement market. The document aims to foment competition in public tenders and provide information to public buyers in Member States. The document advises on quality standards, how to assess abnormally low-priced offers and compliance with social […]
EU to cut steel import quotas
The European Commission released a statement in August 2019, affirming that while steel safeguard measures have overall been successful during the first year of implementation, they require further adjustments. The safeguard measures were initially introduced provisionally in July 2018, to prevent harm to the EU steel industry, which was being affected by US tariffs. The […]
Renewed EU focus on anti-money laundering rules
The European Commission adopted a Communication and four reports addressing money laundering and terrorist financing risks in July 2019. The reports stress the need for the full implementation of the fifth anti-money laundering directive and reinforce the supervisory role of the European Banking Authority. The communication addressed the persistent shortfalls in anti-money laundering and terrorist […]
New Energy Charter Treaty
The European Commission has recently published a recommendation for a Council Decision authorising the entering into negotiations on the modernisation of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). The ECT, signed in Lisbon in 1994, is an international agreement that regulates cross-border cooperation in the energy industry. It covers all aspects of commercial energy activities, including trade, […]
EU to strengthen its financial supervisory architecture
In the framework of the Capital Markets Union project, the European Parliament and Member States have recently reached a political agreement on new rules to strengthen financial supervision and to prevent anti-money laundering. The new legal regime will improve the governance and the convergence powers of the European Supervisory Authorities. Furthermore, anti-money laundering will be […]
EU to draw list of key energy projects
The European Commission has launched a public consultation for drawing the list of Projects of Common Interest (PCI). Once identified and selected as PCI, these projects will benefit from faster permitting, lower costs and potentially even funding. As a first step, projects for electricity, gas, smart grids, oil and CO2 networks need to be submitted. […]
EU third country blacklist
In February 2019, the European Commission came up with a proposal to include all countries that are not doing enough to fight money laundering and terrorism financing on a blacklist. This is the first time the European Commission has embarked on such initiative. The decision requires EU banks to carry out detailed customer vetting. More […]
EU to Advance with Bank Regulation
In 2018, the European Commission will introduce initiatives for the development of secondary markets for Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) and the protection of secured creditors from borrowers’ default. This comes against the alarming accumulation of NPLs. The sheer volume of NPLs have overstretched the administrative capacities of the European systemic banks, contributing to inefficiencies, reduced management […]