Brussels, 13/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - EU27 finance ministers will be meeting in Brussels on 2 May for a special meeting to try and reach agreement on bank regulations, known as the Basel III system, explained a spokesperson for the Danish Presidency of the Council of EU ministers on Thursday 12 April. The special meeting will not replace the ordinary ECOFIN Council in Brussels on 14-15 May.
The Danish Presidency says the point of convening a special meeting is to reach agreement among ministers before entering negotiations with the European Parliament.
The 27 member states need to decide on a common position on the future set-up for the EU's 8,200 banks. Time is racing ahead because the Basel III rules will need to be gradually introduced from January 2013 onwards and it takes banks time to adjust.
Negotiations are in deadlock over problems raised by the United Kingdom, which wants stricter capital requirements than those considered in the rest of the EU and is therefore not intending to go along with European harmonisation. Sweden is reported to have similar views to the EU. The Basel II rules will gradually introduce bank capital requirements of 7% of the total amount they lend, rather than the current 2%. To this end, banks will need to set aside some of their profits or raise extra capital. Some €460 billion will need to be raised from the money markets by 2019, by which time Basel III will be fully in place, explained EU Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier last July. (LC/transl.fl)