The European Parliament today voted to revise draft EU legislation on investment funds (the UCITS directive), with a total sector value of almost € 6.3 trillion in funds. The vote on the legislation, which is being shepherded through the European Parliament by Green draftsperson/rapporteur Sven Giegold, also includes provisions on remuneration and performance fees which […]
Finally a general approach by Council on MiFID: weak rules on food speculation
The European Council today formally adopted its negotiating position on the legislative package on markets in financial instruments (MiFID / MiFIR). The Commission published its proposal in October 2011 and the Parliament agreed on its position a year later. The Council kicked the MiFID can down the road for 20 month till they were in […]
Financial services: European Council delays necessary reforms
Important and necessary reforms are currently delayed by the European Council. After the heads of governments boasted with clear statements to impose a strong and effective regulation on the financial markets their reforming efforts lack progress. Many reform proposals by the Commission have been adopted by the Parliament years ago already but are still awaiting […]
Tax transparency: Country-by-Country reporting by commodity firms and automatic information exchange about capital income
There’s good news from Strasbourg. Overwhelmingly, the European Parliament yesterday has adopted the revision of the accounting and transparency directives (1). Corporations engaged in the exploitation of natural resources and primary forests are obliged now to reveal their profits and tax payments on a country-by-country basis. Since a long time country-by-country reporting is a central […]
Capital income information and tax evasion – Proposed extension of automatic information exchange an important step
The European Commission today set out a proposal to update EU rules on the automatic exchange of information, with a view to extending the system to include all kinds of capital income (1). The Greens welcomed the proposal, with economic affairs spokesperson Sven Giegold (DE) stating: “This proposal would be a further important step in […]
EU economic and budgetary oversight: Belated shift away from one-side austerity must become more comprehensive policy
The European Commission today presented its annual set of economic and fiscal policy recommendations to EU member states based on its assessment of national reform programmes, as part of the European Semester. The Greens have been consistently critical of the one-sided focus on fiscal consolidation and austerity and welcomed the Commission’s decision to relax its […]