The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published, today, its 2019 Consumer Trends Report outlining major developments in the insurance and pensions sectors affecting European consumers. Improvements in disclosure practices have been seen and digitalisation remains a broadly noteworthy trend, showing that financial innovations can bring benefits for both insurers and consumers, so long as they are adequately designed and properly implemented. Accident and health insurance products continue being 'good value-for-money', with the medical expense line of business having the highest claims...

Read more

December 12 - At today’s meeting the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) decided that the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 0.00%, 0.25% and -0.50% respectively. The Governing Council expects the key ECB interest rates to remain at their present or lower levels until it has seen the inflation outlook robustly converge to a level sufficiently close to,...

Read more

On 12 December, EU leaders discussed climate change, the EU's long-term budget and external relations, among other issues. On 13 December, they focused on the economic and monetary union and Brexit. Climate change EU leaders endorsed the objective of making the EU climate-neutral by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement. They underlined that the transition to climate neutrality will bring significant opportunities for economic growth, markets, jobs and technological development. Poland, at this stage, could not commit to implementing this objective, which is why the European Council will come...

Read more

Today, the European Commission unveiled a proposal that will allow the European Union to protect its trade interests despite the paralysis of the multilateral dispute settlement system in the World Trade Organization (WTO). To further increase the focus on compliance and enforcement of the EU's trade agreements, the Commission created today the position of Chief Trade Enforcement Officer. President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said: “A stronger Europe in the world implies efficient EU leadership on global trade and...

Read more

The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) today adopted an opinion on a recommendation from the Council of the European Union on the appointment of a member of the ECB’s Executive Board. The Governing Council had no objection to the proposed candidate, Isabel Schnabel, who is a person of recognised standing and professional experience in monetary or banking matters, as required by Article 283(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Ms Schnabel currently serves...

Read more

The European Commission today presented The European Green Deal – a roadmap for making the EU's economy sustainable by turning climate and environmental challenges into opportunities across all policy areas and making the transition just and inclusive for all. President Ursula von der Leyen said: ‘The European Green Deal is our new growth strategy – for a growth that gives back more than it takes away. It shows how to transform our way of living and working, of producing and consuming so that we live healthier and...

Read more

MEPs will debate the “European Green Deal” to make the EU the first climate-neutral continent, on Wednesday 14:00, in an extraordinary plenary sitting in Brussels. Following the Commission’s expected announcement of the “European Green Deal” on Wednesday 11 December, the European Parliament will have a first debate on it with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans who will close the debate. The European Green Deal will focus on the fight against...

Read more

For the first time ever, nearly all European Ambassadors to the United States went on a joint trip outside of the Beltway to showcase EU unity and celebrate the close political, economic, and cultural ties between the European Union and the State of Maryland Are you sure this is going to work? Can we manage so many events simultaneously? Will we be able to remain on schedule with multiple parallel programs across the State of Maryland? When the ambassador of the...

Read more

The European Accessibility Act aims to ensure more products and services are accessible for elderly people and people living with a disability.  On 13 March Parliament approved the European Accessibility Act (EAA). The new rules are a step towards a fairer and more inclusive Europe and will improve the daily lives of the elderly and people with disabilities across the EU. The final text will still need to be approved by the Council before it can enter into force. Once the legislation has been published...

Read more

The European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) published today joint draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) to amend the Delegated Regulation on the risk mitigation techniques for non-cleared OTC derivatives (bilateral margining) as well as a joint statement on the introduction of fallbacks in OTC derivative contracts and the requirement to exchange collateral. BothRTS and the statement were developed to facilitate further international consistency in the implementation of the global framework agreed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) and the International Organisation...

Read more