Brussels, 20/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - The Committee of Permanent Representatives to the EU (Coreper) was unable on Wednesday 19 February to obtain the qualified majority needed to ratify a pre-agreement between the Greek Presidency and European Parliament on transparency rules guiding the activities of major non-financial companies in the EU in the environmental, social and tax fields (see EUROPE 11017).
The go-ahead for an informal agreement had, however, been hoped for but the Greek Presidency was unable to achieve the necessary consensus. Some delegations, such as France, argued in favour of maintaining the scope of application (companies with more than 500 employees) suggested by the European Commission. These delegations, however, are still at loggerheads with other delegations that would like a more restricted scope of application. At the head of the latter are Germany and the United Kingdom, which will only accept these new rules for major companies quoted on the stock exchange.
After reporting back at the Competitiveness Council on Thursday, the Greek Presidency now wants to include this dossier once again at the Coreper meeting on Wednesday 26 February. (MD/transl.fl)