On Thursday 19 March, the Heads of State or Government of the countries of the European Union are expected to reiterate the need to establish a Savings and Investment Union (SIU) and a fully integrated capital market in order to channel Europeans’ abundant savings into productive investment.
“The idea is to also fix quite ambitious deadlines for the conclusion of the negotiations on the several proposals that are already on the table on the core that is directed us in the context of the Capital Markets Union”, said a senior European diplomat on Tuesday 17 March.
The leaders could also reaffirm the need to complete the Banking Union, although the project has been “stalled for many years”, according to this diplomat.
According to draft conclusions obtained by Agence Europe, the European Council will call on the co-legislators to conclude legislative work on the reform of the securitisation framework (see EUROPE 13777/24), on the package to facilitate access to supplementary pension schemes (see EUROPE 13810/1, 13756/14) and on the ‘MISP’ market infrastructure and supervision package (see EUROPE 13825/24) before the end of the year.
The EU Council will also call for work on the digital euro to be concluded before next winter (see EUROPE 13797/21).
It will also call on the European Commission to propose targeted amendments to the prudential framework “in order to enhance the capacity of the banking sector to finance the European economy” and to make progress on the integration of the banking market (see EUROPE 13828/13).
See the latest draft conclusions: https://aeur.eu/f/l8a
The European insurance industry is calling for an ‘omnibus’ package for financial services. In a press release sent to Agence Europe on Wednesday 18 March, the European insurance and reinsurance federation, Insurance Europe, calls on European leaders to adopt a genuine simplification package for financial services, a ‘Financial Services Omnibus’ package.
The organisation is calling for a “visible and measurable” reduction in regulatory burdens in order to strengthen competitiveness, deepen the single market and facilitate the allocation of capital to Europe’s strategic priorities.
In a working document, Insurance Europe recommends, on the one hand, halting certain initiatives deemed unnecessary, such as the ‘FiDA’ proposal (see EUROPE 13622/19) or the minimum harmonisation of guarantee schemes (‘Insurance Guarantee Schemes’), and on the other hand, to simplify the existing framework through targeted adjustments to ‘Solvency II’, the green taxonomy, ‘DORA’ (see EUROPE 13682/27) and the accounting rules for SMEs.
In particular, the federation is suggesting a ‘stop-the-clock’ on the IRRD directive in order to reassess its scope and timetable. “Every unnecessary rule has a cost”, stressed its president, Frédéric de Courtois, urging the EU27 to translate their ambitions for simplification and competitiveness into concrete measures.
See the working document: https://aeur.eu/f/l8l (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)