The Commission welcomes the USA's acceptance of an government-to-government approach to tackling tax evaders and implementing the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). This more business-friendly arrangement for EU financial institutions is the result of intense discussions with the USA, following a letter sent by the Commission and EU Presidency to the US tax authorities in April 2011 (see IP/11/413). Through a government-to-government approach to tax information exchange, the administrative burden, compliance costs and legal difficulties which EU financial institutions...

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New European Rules Will Increase Transparency and Safety in Derivatives Trading Statement by Commissioner Michel Barnier, following the agreement in trilogue of new European rules to regulate financial derivatives. "I congratulate the European Parliament and the Council on reaching today an important agreement on a regulation for more stability, transparency and efficiency in derivatives markets. It is a key step in our effort to establish a safer and sounder regulatory framework for European financial markets. This matters because we...

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No. 06/12, February 06, 2012 The European Commission and the United States today solved one of their most longstanding WTO disputes concerning the U.S. calculation practice of so-called "zeroing" in anti-dumping investigations. They signed a roadmap which sets out the steps the U.S. will take to comply with WTO rulings in the future calculation of duties when the U.S. authorities find that some imported products from a particular exporter enter the U.S. market below the normal market price. As a...

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Berlin, 6 February 2012 Herman Van Rompuy President of the European Council's Speech at the Humboldt University, Walter Hallstein Institute for European Constitutional Law - "The discovery of co-responsibility: Europe in the debt crisis". For the complete transcript of the speech - click here

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The EU Commission has published a MEMO that provides an overview of the research and innovation performance of the different Member States, and associated and neighbouring countries, as measured by the Innovation Union Scoreboard 2011. The Scoreboard is prepared by the Maastricht Economic and Social Research and Training Centre on Innovation and Technology (MERIT), in collaboration with the Commission's in-house science service, the Joint Research Centre (JRC). For additional information, see IPI12/102. What is the Innovation Union Scoreboard (IUS)? The Innovation Union...

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Leaders of the European Union and the United States agreed to establish a high-level working group to boost job creation and economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic. They asked the Transatlantic Economic Council to establish a High-Level Working Group on Jobs and Growth, led by U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht. The Working Group will work closely with all private and public stakeholder groups as it considers options for strengthening transatlantic trade and...

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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its 2012 work program. The document highlights the key priorities and explains how they will be delivered. It has been approved by ESMA’s Management Board and Board of Supervisors. Annex 3 presents a more detailed view on the key work streams ESMA will run in 2012.

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The Joint Forum which was established in 1996 under the aegis of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) released a consultative paper on principles for the supervision of financial conglomerates. For more information, please click here. Click here for the final text of the Directive.

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The European Securities and Market Authority ESMA published its final report on guidelines on systems and controls in an automated trading environment for trading platforms, investment firms and competent authorities. In issuing these guidelines, ESMA rolls out a comprehensive regime governing the operation of electronic trading systems by a regulated market, a multilateral trading facility (MTF) or investment firms. The guidelines cover trading in an automated environment of any financial instruments, as defined in the Market in Financial Instruments...

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A MESSAGE FROM  AMBASSADOR JOÃO VALE DE ALMEIDA HEAD OF DELEGATION Delegation of the European Union to the United States Just over a year ago, the European Union launched the European External Action Service, the EU’s official diplomatic service. The timing could not have been more important. The large-scale challenges of the past year—particularly the transformative events of the Arab Spring—have required the kind of strong and coordinated EU response that the European External Action Service can provide. The international community has...

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