In parallel with the adoption of EU instruments in the area of civil and commercial law, the EU’s exclusive external competence to negotiate and conclude international conventions has also increased. As a result, the EU (represented by the Commission) has gradually replaced Member States internationally. Where the EU cannot be formally a Contracting Party to an international Convention (because the participation of regional/international organisations is not foreseen in the convention), the EU exercises its competence through its Member States. The...

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The European Commission has found Italy's plan to enable the transfer of certain State guaranteed loans to a newly created platform managed by AMCO S.p.A. to be free of any State aid. The Commission found that, under the scheme, the Italian State will be remunerated in line with market conditions. It also found that the sale of the loans to the platform managed by AMCO as well as any potential new loans granted by it will be carried out on...

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The European Commission published today the results of an external market study on the distribution practices of hotels in the EU. The market study was conducted in 2021 and covers the period between 2017 and 2021. It focused on a representative sample of six Member States (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Poland, Spain and Sweden). The study aimed to: obtain up-to-date facts on hotels' distribution practices, following up on a similar monitoring exercise carried out by the European Competition Network (ECN) in...

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Clyde Caruana, Minister for Finance and Employment of Malta, and Paschal Donohoe, President of the Eurogroup and Minister for Finance of Ireland, met in Valletta, Malta, on 23 August 2022. Their discussion focused on the evolving geopolitical and economic situation and its impact on Malta, Ireland, and the Euro Area as a whole. Against the backdrop of growing challenges such as rise of inflation and revisions in global growth prospects, both Ministers emphasised the benefit of close coordination of national...

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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s securities markets regulator, today published the annual update of its Reporting Manual on the European Single Electronic Format (ESEF). This year’s highlight is the new guidance in relation to the ESEF regulatory technical standards (RTS) requirement to mark up the notes to the IFRS consolidated financial statement following the “block tagging” approach. As the ESEF RTS requirement is applicable to 2022 financial year for the first time, the manual contains a...

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Today, the European Commission adopted its proposal for fishing opportunities for 2023 for the Baltic Sea. Based on this proposal, EU countries will determine the maximum quantities of the most important commercial fish species that can be caught in the sea basin. The Commission proposes to increase fishing opportunities for central herring and plaice, while maintaining the current levels for salmon and the levels of by-catch of western and eastern cod, as well as western herring. The Commission proposes to decrease...

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High-quality, reliable, and comparable gauges are lacking. Here’s how to close the gap. Climate change is transforming the global investment landscape, creating new risks and opportunities. Physical risks, from rising sea levels to the lethal heat waves scorching Europe and elsewhere, affect asset values for everything from stocks to real estate and infrastructure. So-called transition risk—including government policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions—lowers the value of fossil fuel companies. To evaluate these risks and support the transition to a low-carbon economy,...

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This report contains the audited financial statements of the FSB, for the 12-month period from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022. It also provides details on the FSB governance arrangements and its transparency and accountability mechanisms. A detailed explanation of the activities undertaken to implement the mandate and tasks of the FSB is provided in the FSB’s Annual Report, which is a separate report that will be published in November. Available as: PDF Compliments of the U.S. Financial Stability Board.

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During the pandemic, central banks in both advanced and emerging market economies took unprecedented measures to ease financial conditions and support the economic recovery, including interest-rate cuts and asset purchases. With inflation at multi-decade highs in many countries and pressures broadening beyond food and energy prices, policymakers have pivoted toward tighter policy. As our Chart of the Week shows, central banks in many emerging markets proactively started to hike rates earlier last year, followed by their counterparts in advanced economies...

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