The financial crisis highlighted that public authorities are ill-equipped to deal with ailing banks operating in today's global markets. In order to maintain essential financial services for citizens and businesses, governments have had to inject public money into banks and issue guarantees on an unprecedented scale: between October 2008 and October 2011, the European Commission approved €4.5 trillion (equivalent to 37% of EU GDP) of state aid measures to financial institutions1. This averted massive banking failure and economic disruption,...

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Siim Kallas, European Commission Vice-President responsible for transport and mobility, welcomed the efforts of the Danish Presidency and the outcome of today's Transport Council reaching a partial general approach on the initiative known as 'Connecting Europe Facility'. "The establishment of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) is one of the key initiatives of the Commission in the context of the proposed package for delivering sustainable growth and jobs", said Kallas."I think this text presents a delicate balance within the Council...

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The European Commission and the U.S. Transportation Security Administration have agreed to recognize each other's air cargo security regimes, eliminating the need for costly duplication of security controls.  "We are getting rid of duplication of security controls, while preserving high levels of security," said Siim Kallas, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for transport. "This is a big step forward and it will have a major business impact. Air freight is by definition naturally urgent. Cutting out the duplication of...

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As published in The Economist: May 30th 2012, 16:13 by J.S. | LONDON ONCE in a while an opinion poll throws up an insight that is very revealing; yesterday it was the Pew Global survey of European countries. Among the usual questions about attitudes to the euro and the European Union, people in eight nations (Britain, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Poland and Spain) were asked which country in the European Union is the hardest-working. The Greeks ignored the obvious answer...

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SEC approves amendments to align FINRA rules with statutes that invalidate predispute arbitration agreements for whistleblower disputes. read on

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Speaking at the European Parliament's Workshop on Transatlantic Economic Relations, European Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht called for the EU and the US to seek "a new, comprehensive transatlantic agreement that covers all relevant economic issues." Broad trade liberalization across the Atlantic would help economic recovery, said Commissioner De Gucht, and effective regulatory cooperation would further reduce costs because companies would not have to comply with different requirements that have the same objectives."Our remit is to look at all...

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Writing under the headline "EU and US - Strategic Partners in Peace and Security" in an op-ed in The Hill, João Vale de Almeida, Head of the European Union Delegation to the U.S., notes that "thousands of EU personnel are currently staffing 13 active peace-keeping missions around the world in fragile states." Ambassador Vale de Almeida writes that EU missions help train police in Afghanistan, establish the rule of law in Iraq, and contribute to Kosovo's efforts to develop an...

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EUROstat just released a report on Taxation trends in the European Union, the report contains a detailed statistical and economic analysis of the tax systems of the Member States of the European Union, plus Iceland and Norway, which are Members of the European Economic Area. The data are presented within a unified statistical framework (the ESA95 harmonised system of national and regional accounts), which makes it possible to assess the heterogeneous national tax systems on a fully comparable basis. The...

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Brussels, 22 May 2012 I welcome the agreement today in the "trilogue" with the Parliament and Council on our proposal for the pilot phase of Project Bonds, which paves the way for the vote on 31 May. This is an important initiative that can contribute to strengthen our economy. Promoting public and private investment is indeed a cornerstone of our growth initiative. The Project Bond Initiative by the EU and the EIB will support the financing of commercially viable infrastructure projects...

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I have just met with the interim Prime Minister of Greece, Mr Panagiotis Pikrammenos. His government has a clearly defined yet vital role to play in the coming weeks. I reiterated the Commission's strong desire that Greece should remain a member of the euro area and that we will continue to do everything in our power for this to happen. The euro area has shown unprecedented solidarity to Greece and its people. It has made a commitment to maintain financial support...

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