Brussels, 08/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - The Dutch Presidency of the Council of the EU is hoping to push through a roadmap on the sharing and reducing of financial risks in banking for adoption by the European finance ministers in June.
“The aim is to achieve a roadmap on these two elements during our term”, the Dutch Finance Minister, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, said on Tuesday 8 March, after the Ecofin Council.
On the basis of a proposal of the Netherlands, an ad hoc working group has been set up within the Council to deal with the sharing of financial risks, by means of the proposal bringing the European deposit insurance system (EDIS), and the reduction of financial risks, both at the same time (see EUROPE 11148).
On Tuesday, the Ecofin Council took stock of the work on the reduction of financial risks, a theme close to Germany's heart. The German minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, reiterated on Tuesday that this reduction of the risks was a “key element” in the work on financial questions. In this context, Berlin is soon to present a working document on the governance of the Single Supervisory Mechanism for banks (SSM) and the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM), the two planks of banking union in the eurozone already in place. During the talks on banking union, the Germans criticised the legal basis used on more than one occasion, and called for treaty change. They also regularly call for a clearer separation between banking supervision and monetary policy within the ECB.
The other subjects to do with reducing the risks include the application of existing European law, such as the 'bank restructuring and resolution' (BRRD) and 'deposit guarantee' (DGS) directives. Cyprus, Greece and Italy reported progress in this matter, Dijsselbloem noted. At this stage, Belgium, Cyprus, Poland and Slovenia are the only countries still lagging behind in the transposition of the 'BRRD' directive. Additionally, there is the reduction of the options and national leeways laid down in the banking prudential legislation, which are hampering the creation of a body of uniform rules, as well as the transposition into EU law of the TLAC capital buffer approved at the G20 summit of Antalya. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)