Finance & Trade

Auditors Criticize EU Handling of Financial Crisis

February 01, 2016

Politico reports that the European Court of Auditors has released a report highlighting lapses in the European Commission's handling of bailouts in countries facing the financial crisis, finding that required reforms of national policies were sometimes disproportionate in light of the problems each country faced.
Belgian Official Objects to EU Transactions Tax Provisions

January 29, 2016

Belgian Finance Minister Johan Van Overtveldt has announced his concerns that a deal among ten countries in the EU - including Belgium - establishing a tax on financial transactions could harm the Belgian financial system and raise the cost of financing public debt.
EU Orders Belgium to Recover "State Aid" from Steel Companies

January 21, 2016

Finding that the Walloon Government in southern Belgium gave public aid to steel companies in financial difficulties in violation of EU state aid rules, the European Commission has ordered the Belgian Government to recover €211 million of this aid from these steel companies.
Poland Continues Avoidance of Euro

January 20, 2016

Citing its relatively high economic performance during the recent eurozone financial crisis, Polish Finance Minister Pawel Szalamacha has said that his Government is unlikely to deviate from the policy of its predecessors in declining to adopt the euro currency, though it is obligated to do so in the future under the terms of its EU entry agreement.
EU Commissioner Stresses Corporate Tax Proposals

January 20, 2016

In a recent session with European Parliament committees, European Commissioner for tax Pierre Moscovici said that 2016 would be a year of ambitious EU tax proposals that will seek to increase corporate taxes paid to EU member states and make payments to each country more transparent.
EU Committee Chairperson Details Wasted Aid

January 19, 2016

The Daily Mail reports that the Chairperson of the European Parliament's committee on budget control Ingeborg Graessle indicates that an upcoming report from her committee will show approximately half of EU spending on foreign aid goes to projects that are either ineffective or have been significantly delayed.
ECB Questions Banks on "Non-performing" Loans

January 19, 2016

Reuters reports that the European Central Bank ("ECB") has sent a questionnaire to banks across Europe seeking to scrutinize institutions that have taken on high numbers of "bad" loans that are unlikely to be repaid, particularly in countries with underperforming economies.
German Court Revisits ECB Bond-buying Cases

January 15, 2016

Bloomberg reports that the German Federal Constitutional Court will rehear five lawsuits asserting that the European Central Bank's ("ECB") 2012 bond-buying program is inconsistent with the German Constitution after the Court of Justice of the EU determined that the program was valid under EU law.
EU Commission Declines to Measure Potential "Brexit" Impact

January 14, 2016

Reuters reports that the office of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has issued an order to Commission economists not to study the potential impact of an exit of Britain from the EU following a referendum that may take place later this year.
EU Investigates UK Subsidy Plan for Renewable Energy

January 06, 2016

Partially acknowledging the potential conflict between its restrictions on "state aid" and its policy requiring EU members to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, the European Commission has issued a press release announcing that it is investigating whether the UK's subsidization of the conversion of part of a coal-fired power plant to run on "biomass" is unlawful.