Finance & Trade

Merkel Offers Tentative Support to EU Finance Integration

August 09, 2017

Politico reports that, in a June speech to German business leaders, German Chancellor Angela Merkel offered her support to proposals from her counterpart in France on the creation of a eurozone finance minister and pooled budget, so long as "the framework conditions are right."
Steel CEOs Warn of Impacts of EU Emissions Shift

August 07, 2017

Reuters reports that a letter from CEOs of 76 steel-producing companies to officials of EU institutions and member states warns that sharp changes to the bloc's Emissions Trading System after the year 2020 will increase steel imports and lead to widespread closure of steel factories in Europe.
EU Introduces Measures to Advance Capital Markets Union

August 04, 2017

In June, the European Commission unveiled plans to further the completion of the EU Capital Markets Union through such measures as a "pan-European personal pension product" and further expansion of the framework for supervising capital markets in the European Securities and Markets Authority.
Germany, France Support Bulgarian Euro Accession

August 04, 2017

Bloomberg reports that President Emmanuel Macron of France and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany have expressed their support for permitting EU member Bulgaria to enter the ERM-2 exchange-rate mechanism, the precursor group to adopting the euro currency.
OECD Sees No Bar to EU-UK Free Financial Trade

August 03, 2017

The Daily Telegraph reports that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has found no bar within its global Code of Liberalisation to free trade in financial services between the EU and UK after Brexit and has urged the continuance of such trade to avoid "starving the EU of the capital vital to its economy and breaking up the valuable City of London."
German Officials Reject EU Common Debt Proposals

August 02, 2017

Reuters reports that, responding to a proposal from the European Commission floating the idea of an instrument that would pool the debt of eurozone member states, a spokeswoman for the German finance ministry stated that her government's position rejecting such common eurozone debt had not changed.
EU Paper Imagines New Powers for Euro Managers

August 02, 2017

Politico reports that, in May, the European Commission released a "reflection paper" calling for ambitious reforms to the eurozone, including the creation of an EU finance minister and a euro area treasury and the transformation of the now-informal Eurogroup into an institutionalized body accountable to the European Parliament.
ECB Official Calls for Completion of Banking Union

August 02, 2017

Reuters reports that, according to the European Central Bank's (ECB) Governing Board member Francois Villeroy de Galhau, the EU must simplify its eurozone banking rules to complete the project of bringing all banks in the bloc under a single, supranational supervisor.
German Official: EU Must Retain "Major Part" of Euro Clearing

August 02, 2017

City A.M. reports that German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble has called for the EU to retain the "major part" of the clearing of euro-denominated currency, much of which is currently located in London, within its territory after Brexit.
EU Revamps Finance Integration Plans in Light of Brexit

July 31, 2017

Reuters reports that a draft document from the European Commission calls for a restructuring of the EU's plans for a scaled-up "Capital Markets Union" to take into account Britain's departure from the bloc, including proposed legislation boosting the authority of the EU's European Securities and Markets Authority to advance the integration of finance policy.