In its programme for the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Hungary has made competitiveness its main priority (see EUROPE 13440/30). In the area of financial services, a number of matters relating to the Capital Markets Union (CMU), the Banking Union and investment will be on the table of the European finance ministers in the second half of 2024.
Hungary intends to ensure that the financial rules provide “a clear response to the challenges of our time” and considers that it is “in our common interest” to guarantee financial stability.
In addition, Budapest has indicated its intention to take forward discussions on the future of the CMU, on the basis of the guidelines adopted by the European Council last April (see EUROPE 13394/1). The Hungarian Presidency intends to improve access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises and reduce administrative burdens.
Legislative files. Building on the work of the Belgian (see EUROPE 13324/15) and Spanish EU Council Presidencies, Hungary has announced that it will continue negotiations on seven legislative packages.
One of these will be the retail investment strategy, for which Member States have already been invited to provide their comments on the proposed new investor protection rules by mid-August, with a view to future negotiations with the European Parliament (see EUROPE 13446/10).
At an event organised by the European Savings Banks Group (ESBG) on Tuesday 2 July, the Deputy State Secretary for Finance, Gábor Szőcs, indicated that the first trilogue negotiations with the European Parliament on this dossier could begin “in October”.
In other news, negotiations with the European Parliament are due to start during the second half of the year on the regulations amending the financial reporting obligations (see EUROPE 13435/4) and the regulation on benchmark indices (see EUROPE 13398/36).
The EU Council will also have to take a position on the review of payment services (see EUROPE 13397/10), access to financial data (see EUROPE 13414/14) and the digital euro (see EUROPE 13436/8).
Banking Union. With regard to the Banking Union, the Hungarian authorities will be responsible for negotiating the ‘CMDI’ legislative package aimed at strengthening the management of banking crises.
The Commission is fiercely opposed to the position agreed by the EU Council in June, considering it detrimental to the future of the Banking Union (see EUROPE 13437/4). (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit and Mathieu Bion)