The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s securities markets regulator, today launches a public consultation on the revision of the Delegated Regulation regarding fees charged to CRAs. The consultation paper contains proposals which ensure that the supervisory fees charged to credit rating agencies (CRAs) reflect the costs of registration, certification and on-going supervision whilst remaining proportionate to CRAs’ turnover. ESMA’s main proposals are to charge: A single registration fee of €45,000; Annual supervisory fees of €20,000 to registered CRAs with annual revenues of between...

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Speech by Isabel Schnabel, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the LSE conference on “Financial Cycles, Risk, Macroeconomic Causes and Consequences” | Frankfurt am Main, 28 January 2021 | One year after the first cases were reported in Europe, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to take a tragic human toll and to pose enormous challenges to workers, firms, the financial system and policymakers in the euro area. Without the forceful responses of fiscal, monetary and prudential authorities the...

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Today, the European Commission and national consumer authorities released the results of a screening of websites (“sweep”), an exercise carried out each year to identify breaches of EU consumer law in online markets. This year, for the first time ever, the sweep focused on ‘greenwashing', the practice by which companies claim they are doing more for the environment than they actually are. The “sweep” analysed green online claims from various business sectors such as garments, cosmetics and household equipment....

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“The vaccines are here!”—the cry heard and welcomed the world over—has boosted hopes of a global economic recovery in 2021. Yet until vaccines are widely available, the market rally and the economic recovery rest on continued monetary and fiscal policy support. 'While there is for now no alternative to continued monetary policy support, there are legitimate concerns around excessive risk-taking and market exuberance.' Financial stability risks have been in check so far, but we cannot take this for granted. Prices for stocks, corporate bonds,...

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Eurogroup | Statements and remarks by Paschal Donohoe | 27 January 2021 | Today, we mark an important milestone in the further development of the Economic and Monetary Union, which will strengthen euro area's crisis prevention and resolution capabilities as well as the Banking Union. We also demonstrate our unity of purpose to deliver progress on important issues for the benefit of all our citizens. Representatives from the Member States have signed the amending agreements to the Treaty on the European...

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Following a review under the recommendation on the gradual lifting of the temporary restrictions on non-essential travel into the EU, the Council updated the list of countries for which travel restrictions should be lifted. As stipulated in the Council recommendation, this list will continue to be reviewed every two weeks and, as the case may be, updated. Based on the criteria and conditions set out in the recommendation, as from 28 January member states should gradually lift the travel restrictions at...

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Interview with Philip R. Lane, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, conducted by Elena Laskari on 26 January 2021 | Euro area economies are still under pressure because of the second wave of the pandemic and it is still unclear if we are closer to the end of the tunnel or closer to a third wave. According to the ECB’s forecasts, how many years will it take for our economies to heal the scars of the pandemic and...

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Blog post by HR/VP Josep Borrell | The inauguration of Joe Biden opens a welcome new chapter in EU-US relations. As President Biden has signalled, there is much to repair and rebuild, both at home and abroad. But this is above all a moment of opportunity. We as EU are ready to revive our partnership, which is so important at a time of tumultuous global change. Like millions of people around the world, I followed President Biden’s inaugural address. Naturally, the...

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The EU trade agenda is set to have an overall positive impact on the EU economy and the agri-food sector, according to a new study published today. Trade agreements are due to result in substantial increases in EU agri-food exports, with more limited increases in imports, creating a positive trade balance overall. The study also confirms that the EU's approach to grant a limited amount of lower duty imports (through tariff rate quotas) is the best approach in terms...

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