Who is going to be the Herostratus of the eurozone? Many are in the running if we try to follow events.
In the column Public debt in the Eurozone, Japan, and the US, professor Charles Wyplosz presented a report about the ease of accumulating excessive public debt and the difficulties in getting rid of it.
In the Financial Times, Martin Wolf wrote that the failure of Germany's leaders to explain the basic facts (deficiencies) of the eurozone makes it impossible to solve the current crisis. Germany must make the choice between a different eurozone or no eurozone. In the meantime, the ECB should act to prevent meltdown: Time for Germany to make its fateful choice.
At the US Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Christopher Alessi presented the downgrading of French banks, their share prices being hit, the upcoming trip by US Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner to meet the eurozone finance ministers, worries about European banks generally and the probable lack of coordinated global responses, different views from both shores of the Atlantic and discordant views within the German coalition government. A banking crisis was close, according to some observers. The article offers helpful links to the stories: The Gathering Eurozone Storm.
Professor Hans-Joachim Voth wrote an overview of the European cacaphony for CNN, reminding readers that a rescue in exchange for collateral is not much of a rescue at all. In addition to Finland, other smaller eurozone countries are getting restless and disillusioned: Will the Austrians, Slovaks or Dutch break the euro?
Saturday evening eurozone blues for you.
Ralf Grahn
Showing posts with label banking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label banking. Show all posts
Saturday, 17 September 2011
Sunday, 7 February 2010
Hot tax row between Germany and Switzerland
Here are only a few samples of what has become front page news in Germany, generating hundreds of newspaper articles. Deutsche Welle reports that a number of offers have been made to German authorities on Swiss banking data, although buying stolen data is also politically controversial in Germany: Luft für Steuersünder wird dünner (6 February 2010). Sueddeutsche.de basically tells the same story, adding a few details: Steuerdaten – jetzt prüft auch Bayern (7 February 2010).
According to Welt Online the meagre public information about stolen bank data was sufficient to start a wave of self-incriminatory reports to German tax authorities. About 50 tax evaders had already given themselves in: Verwirrspiel mit System (7 February 2010).
If the story is big in Germany, in Switzerland the breach of the sacred banking secrecy and the potential loss of banking business for wealthy clients has reached almost existential proportions. On 6 and 7 February NZZ Online was practically dominated by different aspects of the issue:
Wiederstand gegen Handel mit gestohlenen Daten regt sich
Auch bayerische Behörden auf der Spur von Steuersündern
Neue CD mit Bankdaten aufgetaucht
„Wir müssen den Mut haben, solchen Fragen jetzt zu stellen“(interesting interview with Hans-Rudolf Merz, Minister of Finance, weighing Switzerland’s responses to the mounting pressure: OECD double taxation agreements; cost of market access versus defiance of EU norms)
„Bern hat den Kopf verloren“ (Konrad Hummler, President of Swiss Private Bankers‘ Association accuses the government of losing ist head)
Wolfgang Schäuble: „Das Bankgeheimnis ist am Ende“ (German Finance Minister ringing the death knell of banking secrecy)
„ Drakonische Strafen – Gewalttäter sind besser dran als Steuersünder (draconic justice for tax fraudsters in Germany – worse than for violent robbers)
Nun droht ein Banksterben (the less than rosy future of a banking sector dependent on market access and business globally)
Ralf Grahn
P.S. If the EU member states continue to pursue their narrow interests in foreign, security and defence policies, the face marginalisation in global affairs.
Global Europe blog and the accompanying website offer a daily summary of interesting articles and additional materials in English on European foreign affairs.
The Global Europe blog is listed on multilingual Bloggingportal.eu, which has now grown to 532 great Euroblogs.
Bloggingportal.eu is your useful one-stop-shop for fact, opinion and gossip on EU affairs, i.a. politics, more than thirty policy areas, communication, economics, finance, business, civil society and law.
At the same time Euroblogs are an agreeable way to brush up one’s skills in foreign languages.
If you are interested in the EU or the euroblogosphere, you can also subscribe to the RSS feed for new blog posts appearing on Bloggingportal.eu.
By the way, I also discuss in EU law and European Union politics Finnish on Eurooppaoikeus and in Swedish on Grahnblawg. The main themes at this point in time include the European Digital Agenda with data protection and intellectual property, the internal market and the free movement of persons, as well as the important relations between the EU and Switzerland.
According to Welt Online the meagre public information about stolen bank data was sufficient to start a wave of self-incriminatory reports to German tax authorities. About 50 tax evaders had already given themselves in: Verwirrspiel mit System (7 February 2010).
If the story is big in Germany, in Switzerland the breach of the sacred banking secrecy and the potential loss of banking business for wealthy clients has reached almost existential proportions. On 6 and 7 February NZZ Online was practically dominated by different aspects of the issue:
Wiederstand gegen Handel mit gestohlenen Daten regt sich
Auch bayerische Behörden auf der Spur von Steuersündern
Neue CD mit Bankdaten aufgetaucht
„Wir müssen den Mut haben, solchen Fragen jetzt zu stellen“(interesting interview with Hans-Rudolf Merz, Minister of Finance, weighing Switzerland’s responses to the mounting pressure: OECD double taxation agreements; cost of market access versus defiance of EU norms)
„Bern hat den Kopf verloren“ (Konrad Hummler, President of Swiss Private Bankers‘ Association accuses the government of losing ist head)
Wolfgang Schäuble: „Das Bankgeheimnis ist am Ende“ (German Finance Minister ringing the death knell of banking secrecy)
„ Drakonische Strafen – Gewalttäter sind besser dran als Steuersünder (draconic justice for tax fraudsters in Germany – worse than for violent robbers)
Nun droht ein Banksterben (the less than rosy future of a banking sector dependent on market access and business globally)
Ralf Grahn
P.S. If the EU member states continue to pursue their narrow interests in foreign, security and defence policies, the face marginalisation in global affairs.
Global Europe blog and the accompanying website offer a daily summary of interesting articles and additional materials in English on European foreign affairs.
The Global Europe blog is listed on multilingual Bloggingportal.eu, which has now grown to 532 great Euroblogs.
Bloggingportal.eu is your useful one-stop-shop for fact, opinion and gossip on EU affairs, i.a. politics, more than thirty policy areas, communication, economics, finance, business, civil society and law.
At the same time Euroblogs are an agreeable way to brush up one’s skills in foreign languages.
If you are interested in the EU or the euroblogosphere, you can also subscribe to the RSS feed for new blog posts appearing on Bloggingportal.eu.
By the way, I also discuss in EU law and European Union politics Finnish on Eurooppaoikeus and in Swedish on Grahnblawg. The main themes at this point in time include the European Digital Agenda with data protection and intellectual property, the internal market and the free movement of persons, as well as the important relations between the EU and Switzerland.
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Growing opposition against EU-USA SWIFT or TFTP agreement
Active opposition against the so called SWIFT agreement on the rendition of financial data from the European Union to the United States of America seems to be growing among experts, in the European Parliament and beyond.
One the one hand, there is the interim TFTP agreement the member states’ governments (Council) wanted to enter into force on 1 February 2010, without burdening the European Parliament with scrutiny. On the other hand, there are plans for a long term agreement, but the Council has been less than zealous in engaging the European Parliament.
Members of the EP Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) have not taken the combination of pressure secrecy from the Council and the European Commission kindly, as seen in SWIFT interim agreement: Civil liberties Committee to vote on 4 February (27 January 2010).
The procedure file NLE/2009/0190 EU/USA agreement: processing and transfer of Financial Messaging Data for purposes of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program on Oeil, the Legislative Observatory of the European Parliament, tells us the basic facts about the existing documents:
1) COUNCIL DECISION on the signing, on behalf of the European Union, of the Agreement between the European Union and the United States of America on the processing and transfer of Financial Messaging Data from the European Union to the United States for purposes of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program (document 16110/09), meant to enter into force provisionally from 1 February and remaining in force until 31 October 2010. This interim agreement has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union as Council Decision 2010/16/CFSP/JHA, OJEU 13.1.2010 L 8/9 & 11.
2) The previous initial legislative document contains the Commission’s proposal on the conclusion of the TFTP Agreement; 17 December 2009; COM(2009)0703 final.
3) COUNCIL DECISION on the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Union and the United States of America on the processing and transfer of Financial Messaging Data from the European Union to the United States for purposes of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program; dated 20 January 2010; Council document 5305/10. The meaning of the document is somewhat unclear. Is it a belated attempt by the Council to ask for the consent of the European Parliament with regard to the interim agreement after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty? Or is it meant to cover the planned long term agreement? Anyway, the “attached” substance of the agreement is missing.
LIBE
The LIBE Committee has been doing what such parliamentary committees are supposed to do: gathering information about the impact of the TFTP Agreement on fundamental rights of EU citizens.
The Article 29 Data Protection Working Party (Working Party on Police and Justice) has expressed concerns on data protection grounds.
The European Data Protection Supervisor considers that not enough elements have been provided so far to justify the necessity and proportionality of such a privacy-intrusive [TFTP] agreement, which in many aspects overlaps with already existing EU and international instruments in this area.
Political reactions
Given the evidence, political reactions have continued, but they have also become sharper.
In December 2009 the liberal group ALDE pushed for an agreement with the other political groups on two conditions for EP approval: that Parliament has full access to all relevant documents and information connected to the SWIFT agreement and that Council's negotiating mandate for the longer-term agreement, to replace this interim agreement expiring by 31 October 2010, fully reflect Parliament' stated concerns in its resolution of September; in Parliament sets conditions for granting consent to SWIFT agreement (17 December 2009).
Practically all the political groups expressed concerns and conditions during the EP’s SWIFT debate on 20 January 2010.
The Greens-EFA parliamentary group has opted for rejection of the SWIFT agreement as a breach of fundamental rights, quoting home affairs spokesman Jan-Philipp Albrecht: EU-US SWIFT bank data agreement: Parliament must stop Council in its tracks (27 January 2010).
The Pirate Party is going to vote for rejection of the SWIFT Agreement in the European Parliament, says Henrik Alexandersson, who posts a press release (in Swedish): Piratpartiet röstar nej till SWIFT-avtalet (28 January 2010).
Euroblogs
Netzpolitik.org (in German) has been keeping a close watch on the SWIFT agreement process. Recommended reading.
Piratpartiet live has aggregated a number of blog posts opposing the SWIFT agreement (mostly in Swedish). Here are but two examples:
Maloki says no to the SWIFT Agreement: Nej till SWIFT-avtalet! (28 January 2010).
Anna Troberg: Piratpartiet säger nej till SWIFT-avtalet (28 January 2010).
Ralf Grahn
P.S. Cross-border communication is a necessity in the European Union, with scrutiny by active citizens. At the same time Euroblogs are an agreeable way to brush up one’s skills in foreign languages.
Even when discussing French political and legal events, Diner’s room retains a European and human perspective well worth consideration beyond the borders of France.
Diner’s room (in French) is listed among 522 great Euroblogs (at the latest count) on growing multilingual Bloggingportal.eu, your useful one-stop-shop for fact, opinion and gossip on European affairs, i.a. politics, more than thirty policy areas, communication, economics, finance, business, civil society and law.
If you are interested in the EU or the euroblogosphere, you can also subscribe to the RSS feed for new blog posts appearing on Bloggingportal.eu.
By the way, I also discuss European issues in Finnish on Eurooppaoikeus and in Swedish on Grahnblawg.
One the one hand, there is the interim TFTP agreement the member states’ governments (Council) wanted to enter into force on 1 February 2010, without burdening the European Parliament with scrutiny. On the other hand, there are plans for a long term agreement, but the Council has been less than zealous in engaging the European Parliament.
Members of the EP Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) have not taken the combination of pressure secrecy from the Council and the European Commission kindly, as seen in SWIFT interim agreement: Civil liberties Committee to vote on 4 February (27 January 2010).
The procedure file NLE/2009/0190 EU/USA agreement: processing and transfer of Financial Messaging Data for purposes of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program on Oeil, the Legislative Observatory of the European Parliament, tells us the basic facts about the existing documents:
1) COUNCIL DECISION on the signing, on behalf of the European Union, of the Agreement between the European Union and the United States of America on the processing and transfer of Financial Messaging Data from the European Union to the United States for purposes of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program (document 16110/09), meant to enter into force provisionally from 1 February and remaining in force until 31 October 2010. This interim agreement has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union as Council Decision 2010/16/CFSP/JHA, OJEU 13.1.2010 L 8/9 & 11.
2) The previous initial legislative document contains the Commission’s proposal on the conclusion of the TFTP Agreement; 17 December 2009; COM(2009)0703 final.
3) COUNCIL DECISION on the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Union and the United States of America on the processing and transfer of Financial Messaging Data from the European Union to the United States for purposes of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program; dated 20 January 2010; Council document 5305/10. The meaning of the document is somewhat unclear. Is it a belated attempt by the Council to ask for the consent of the European Parliament with regard to the interim agreement after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty? Or is it meant to cover the planned long term agreement? Anyway, the “attached” substance of the agreement is missing.
LIBE
The LIBE Committee has been doing what such parliamentary committees are supposed to do: gathering information about the impact of the TFTP Agreement on fundamental rights of EU citizens.
The Article 29 Data Protection Working Party (Working Party on Police and Justice) has expressed concerns on data protection grounds.
The European Data Protection Supervisor considers that not enough elements have been provided so far to justify the necessity and proportionality of such a privacy-intrusive [TFTP] agreement, which in many aspects overlaps with already existing EU and international instruments in this area.
Political reactions
Given the evidence, political reactions have continued, but they have also become sharper.
In December 2009 the liberal group ALDE pushed for an agreement with the other political groups on two conditions for EP approval: that Parliament has full access to all relevant documents and information connected to the SWIFT agreement and that Council's negotiating mandate for the longer-term agreement, to replace this interim agreement expiring by 31 October 2010, fully reflect Parliament' stated concerns in its resolution of September; in Parliament sets conditions for granting consent to SWIFT agreement (17 December 2009).
Practically all the political groups expressed concerns and conditions during the EP’s SWIFT debate on 20 January 2010.
The Greens-EFA parliamentary group has opted for rejection of the SWIFT agreement as a breach of fundamental rights, quoting home affairs spokesman Jan-Philipp Albrecht: EU-US SWIFT bank data agreement: Parliament must stop Council in its tracks (27 January 2010).
The Pirate Party is going to vote for rejection of the SWIFT Agreement in the European Parliament, says Henrik Alexandersson, who posts a press release (in Swedish): Piratpartiet röstar nej till SWIFT-avtalet (28 January 2010).
Euroblogs
Netzpolitik.org (in German) has been keeping a close watch on the SWIFT agreement process. Recommended reading.
Piratpartiet live has aggregated a number of blog posts opposing the SWIFT agreement (mostly in Swedish). Here are but two examples:
Maloki says no to the SWIFT Agreement: Nej till SWIFT-avtalet! (28 January 2010).
Anna Troberg: Piratpartiet säger nej till SWIFT-avtalet (28 January 2010).
Ralf Grahn
P.S. Cross-border communication is a necessity in the European Union, with scrutiny by active citizens. At the same time Euroblogs are an agreeable way to brush up one’s skills in foreign languages.
Even when discussing French political and legal events, Diner’s room retains a European and human perspective well worth consideration beyond the borders of France.
Diner’s room (in French) is listed among 522 great Euroblogs (at the latest count) on growing multilingual Bloggingportal.eu, your useful one-stop-shop for fact, opinion and gossip on European affairs, i.a. politics, more than thirty policy areas, communication, economics, finance, business, civil society and law.
If you are interested in the EU or the euroblogosphere, you can also subscribe to the RSS feed for new blog posts appearing on Bloggingportal.eu.
By the way, I also discuss European issues in Finnish on Eurooppaoikeus and in Swedish on Grahnblawg.
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
EU-USA SWIFT & TFTP agreement materials
The home affairs part of the Justice and EU Home Affairs Council 30 November 2009 contains the following conclusions on the approved EU-US agreement on financial messaging data for counterterrorism investigations (document 16883/09; page 11):
***
Council decision
This time the Council published a reference (and link) to the relevant document (16110/09; 26 pages): COUNCIL DECISION on the signing, on behalf of the European Union, of the Agreement between the European Union and the United States of America on the processing and transfer of Financial Messaging Data from the European Union to the United States for purposes of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program.
It contains the decision, a declaration and the agreement comprising 15 Articles, so some improvement has been made under the Swedish Council presidency.
It is now possible to discuss the issue on the basis of the final text of the agreement. Better late than never (despite the earlier, leaked versions).
Ralf Grahn
P.S. Do you find EUSSR myths fascinating? Are we EU citizens worth a better European Union? Educate yourself! There are already 487 Euroblogs aggregated on multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. You can access all the posts on the Posts page or concentrate on the editors’ choice of articles on the Home page. On most of the blogs you can comment and discuss our common European future.
EU-US AGREEMENT ON FINANCIAL MESSAGING DATA FOR COUNTERTERRORISM
INVESTIGATIONS
The Council adopted an EU-US agreement on the processing and transfer of financial messaging data for purposes of the US Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme (TFTP 16110/09). It also adopted two political declarations on the subject.
The agreement aims to continue to allow the US Department of the Treasury to receive European financial messaging data for counter-terrorism investigations, while ensuring an adequate level of data protection. Requests by the US have to be verified by the competent authority of the relevant EU member states, they have to substantiate the necessity for the data and they have to be tailored as narrowly as possible. The agreement also provides for a joint review procedure, redress possibilities as well as a suspension clause.
The agreement is temporary. It will be provisionally applied as from 1 February 2010 and expire on 31 October 2010, at the latest. The European Parliament must consent to the formal conclusion of this temporary agreement in the coming months.
Any long-term agreement for the time after 31 October 2010 must be negotiated and concluded under the rules of the Treaty of Lisbon. These provide that the European Parliament must be fully informed at all stages of the negotiations and must give its consent to the formal conclusion of an agreement.
Concerning that follow-up agreement for the time after 31 October 2010, a Council declaration calls upon the Commission to submit as soon as possible, and at any rate no later than February 2010, a recommendation to the Council for the negotiation of a long-term agreement. It also states that the current agreement is without prejudice to any provisions in that long-term agreement.
In a second declaration, the Council and the Commission commit themselves to the Lisbon rules, i.e. to inform the Parliament immediately and fully at all stages during negotiations.
The negotiations on the provisional agreement adopted today, started in July 2009 and responded to a decision by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) to store its European financial messaging data no longer in a database located in the US, but only in Europe.
Under the Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme (TFTP), the US Department of the Treasury seeks to identify, track and pursue suspected terrorists and their providers of finance. It was set up shortly after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. Relevant results of the US analysis have been and will continue to be shared with EU member states. A report by the former French investigating judge Jean-Luis Brugiere, commissioned by the Commission, concluded in December 2008 that the TFTP had generated considerable intelligence value also to the EU member states.
***
Council decision
This time the Council published a reference (and link) to the relevant document (16110/09; 26 pages): COUNCIL DECISION on the signing, on behalf of the European Union, of the Agreement between the European Union and the United States of America on the processing and transfer of Financial Messaging Data from the European Union to the United States for purposes of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program.
It contains the decision, a declaration and the agreement comprising 15 Articles, so some improvement has been made under the Swedish Council presidency.
It is now possible to discuss the issue on the basis of the final text of the agreement. Better late than never (despite the earlier, leaked versions).
Ralf Grahn
P.S. Do you find EUSSR myths fascinating? Are we EU citizens worth a better European Union? Educate yourself! There are already 487 Euroblogs aggregated on multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. You can access all the posts on the Posts page or concentrate on the editors’ choice of articles on the Home page. On most of the blogs you can comment and discuss our common European future.
Monday, 30 November 2009
Council publishes Questions and Answers on EU-US SWIFT agreement
The Council of the European Union has published a five page document with questions and answers on the so called SWIFT agreement on the US Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme (TFTP), concluded for nine months one day before the Lisbon Treaty enters into force.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. Do you find EUSSR myths fascinating? Are we EU citizens worth a better European Union? Educate yourself! There are already 487 Euroblogs aggregated on multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. You can access all the posts on the Posts page or concentrate on the editors’ choice of articles on the Home page. On most of the blogs you can comment and discuss our common European future.
Ralf Grahn
P.S. Do you find EUSSR myths fascinating? Are we EU citizens worth a better European Union? Educate yourself! There are already 487 Euroblogs aggregated on multilingual Bloggingportal.eu. You can access all the posts on the Posts page or concentrate on the editors’ choice of articles on the Home page. On most of the blogs you can comment and discuss our common European future.
Tuesday, 14 October 2008
EU: State aid to financial institutions
The European Commission has quickly published guidance on state aid to beleaguered financial institutions. The Communication from the Commission ‘The application of State aid rules to measures taken in relation to financial institutions in the context of the current global financial crisis’ is available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/comm/competition/state_aid/legislation/banking_crisis_paper.pdf
The timely Communication builds on the ECOFIN principles, and it tries to steer a path between aiding fundamentally sound banks in a flexible manner and evading distortions between different players.
The Communication is going to be “hot stuff” for governments and banks and their advisors.
Ralf Grahn
http://ec.europa.eu/comm/competition/state_aid/legislation/banking_crisis_paper.pdf
The timely Communication builds on the ECOFIN principles, and it tries to steer a path between aiding fundamentally sound banks in a flexible manner and evading distortions between different players.
The Communication is going to be “hot stuff” for governments and banks and their advisors.
Ralf Grahn
Sunday, 13 April 2008
EU TFEU: Transport, banking and insurance services
Important sectors of economic activity, such as transport, banking and insurance (financial services) are treated distinctly in the context of free movement of services within the European Community (European Union).
We look at the current Article 51 of the Treaty establishing the European Community and its position in the EU Treaty of Lisbon.
Further reading is suggested for readers interested in EU law and policies concerning the transport and financial services sectors.
***
The Treaty of Lisbon (ToL) makes no specific amendment to Article 51 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC). Cf. point 57 and 58 in Official Journal (OJ) 17.12.2007 C 306/55.
***
The current Article 51 TEC is found in the latest consolidated version of the treaties, TEU and TEC, in OJ 29.12.2006 C 321 E/62:
Article 51 TEC
1. Freedom to provide services in the field of transport shall be governed by the provisions of the title relating to transport.
2. The liberalisation of banking and insurance services connected with movements of capital shall be effected in step with the liberalisation of movement of capital.
***
According to the Lisbon Treaty, the provision should look like this in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) when we add the location of the Article and the future renumbering from the Tables of equivalences (OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/207-208) and note that no horizontal amendments seem to apply (Cf. OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/41-44):
Part Three ‘Policies and internal actions of the Union’
Title III (renumbered Title IV) ‘Free movement of persons, services and capital’
Chapter 3 ‘Services’
Article 51 TFEU (ToL), renumbered Article 58 TFEU
1. Freedom to provide services in the field of transport shall be governed by the provisions of the title relating to transport.
2. The liberalisation of banking and insurance services connected with movements of capital shall be effected in step with the liberalisation of movement of capital.
***
The first paragraph of Article III-31 of the draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe referred to the ‘Section’ instead of the ‘title’ relating to transport, but proposed no other change (OJ 18.7.2003 C 169/33).
***
Only the referral to ‘Section 7 of Chapter III’ relating to transport differed from the other versions in Article III-146 of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (OJ 16.12.2004 C 310/63).
***
In short, between Nice and Lisbon only technical adjustments have been proposed, boiling down to the renumbering effected by the Treaty of Lisbon.
***
Article 51 TEC and ToL, renumbered Article 58 TFEU, encompasses the principle of freedom to provide services in the field of transport, but excepts transport services from the scope of the general chapter on services (Chapter 3).
TEC Title V ‘Transport’ reigns as ‘lex specialis’, meaning the current Articles 70 to 80 TEC on the common transport policy.
This corresponds with Title V ‘Transport’, Articles 70 to 80 ToL, but after renumbering these provisions are found in Title VI ‘Transport’, Articles 90 to 100 TFEU.
***
Banking and insurance are treated differently. Liberalisation of these sectors is supposed to advance in step with measures to open up the capital markets.
The second paragraph refers to the current Chapter 4 ‘Capital and payments’, Articles 56 to 60 TEC.
The corresponding ToL chapter is Chapter 4 ‘Capital and payments’, Articles 56 to 59 (with Article 61h ToL being renumbered Article 75 TFEU and moved to the provisions on the area of freedom, security and justice).
In the consolidated Lisbon Treaty Chapter 4 ‘Capital and payments’ includes the Articles 63 to 66 TFEU.
***
The interested reader can move directly to the sector specific treaty provisions mentioned above. This series of blog posts is advancing one Article at a time, so we will look at these provisions in due time.
At this stage, some further reading is suggested for interested readers.
***
Transport
A general introduction to EU transport policies is offered through the links of the European Commission’s Transport home page:
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/index_en.html
The European Commission dedicates pages 76 to 83 of its ‘General Report on the Activities of the European Union 2007’ to transport with subheadings on rail transport, road transport, maritime transport, inland navigation, air transport, intermodal approach (Galileo), international developments and Trans-European transport networks (TEN-T).
The government of Sweden publishes yearly reports to the parliament (and the public) on the activities of the European institutions: the EU, the Council of Europe and the OSCE. The depth of the EU report ‘Regeringens skrivelse 2007/08: 85 Berättelse om verksamheten i Europeiska unionen under 2007’, published 6 March 2008, is fully comparable to that of the Commission.
Part 7 (Del 7 Transporter, elektroniska kommunikationer och energi) deals with transport policy from page 163 to 180.
***
Banking and insurance (financial services; capital and payments)
A starting point for EU policies on financial services is offered through the links on the Commission’s internal market web page ‘Financial Services – General Policy:
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/finances/index_en.htm
Under the heading ‘Freedom to provide services and freedom of establishment’ the European Commission deals with developments concerning financial services on pages 50 to 53 of its ‘General Report on the Activities of the European Union 2007’.
Part 6 on competitiveness (Del 6 Konkurrenskraftsfrågor) of the Swedish report on EU activities in 2007 includes Chapter 29 on the free movement of services and capital (29 Fri rörlighet för tjänster och kapital), from page 139 to 142.
The UK House of Lords European Union Committee’s report ‘Single Market: Wallflower of Dancing Partner? Inquiry into the European Commission’s Review of the Single Market, Volume I: Report (HL Paper 36-I, published 8 February 2008) dedicates Chapter 7 to financial services (page 32 to 37).
The starting point of this timely assessment was the Committee’s feeling of an area in which the lack of progress has been disappointing.
***
The separateness of transport services and the parallel introduction of measures concerning banking and insurance services (financial services) with liberalisation of capital markets is underlined by the fact that they are excluded from the scope of the general Services Directive, to be implemented by the member states before 28 December 2009.
See Article 1 ‘Subject matter’, Article 2 ‘Scope’ and Article 3 ‘Relationship with other provisions of Community law’ of Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on services in the internal market, OJ 27.12.2006 L 376, p. 36–68:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:376:0036:0068:EN:PDF
The express exclusion of transport services follows from Article 2(2)(d) and of financial services, such as banking and insurance from Article 2(2)(b) of the general Services Directive.
Ralf Grahn
We look at the current Article 51 of the Treaty establishing the European Community and its position in the EU Treaty of Lisbon.
Further reading is suggested for readers interested in EU law and policies concerning the transport and financial services sectors.
***
The Treaty of Lisbon (ToL) makes no specific amendment to Article 51 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC). Cf. point 57 and 58 in Official Journal (OJ) 17.12.2007 C 306/55.
***
The current Article 51 TEC is found in the latest consolidated version of the treaties, TEU and TEC, in OJ 29.12.2006 C 321 E/62:
Article 51 TEC
1. Freedom to provide services in the field of transport shall be governed by the provisions of the title relating to transport.
2. The liberalisation of banking and insurance services connected with movements of capital shall be effected in step with the liberalisation of movement of capital.
***
According to the Lisbon Treaty, the provision should look like this in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) when we add the location of the Article and the future renumbering from the Tables of equivalences (OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/207-208) and note that no horizontal amendments seem to apply (Cf. OJ 17.12.2007 C 306/41-44):
Part Three ‘Policies and internal actions of the Union’
Title III (renumbered Title IV) ‘Free movement of persons, services and capital’
Chapter 3 ‘Services’
Article 51 TFEU (ToL), renumbered Article 58 TFEU
1. Freedom to provide services in the field of transport shall be governed by the provisions of the title relating to transport.
2. The liberalisation of banking and insurance services connected with movements of capital shall be effected in step with the liberalisation of movement of capital.
***
The first paragraph of Article III-31 of the draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe referred to the ‘Section’ instead of the ‘title’ relating to transport, but proposed no other change (OJ 18.7.2003 C 169/33).
***
Only the referral to ‘Section 7 of Chapter III’ relating to transport differed from the other versions in Article III-146 of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (OJ 16.12.2004 C 310/63).
***
In short, between Nice and Lisbon only technical adjustments have been proposed, boiling down to the renumbering effected by the Treaty of Lisbon.
***
Article 51 TEC and ToL, renumbered Article 58 TFEU, encompasses the principle of freedom to provide services in the field of transport, but excepts transport services from the scope of the general chapter on services (Chapter 3).
TEC Title V ‘Transport’ reigns as ‘lex specialis’, meaning the current Articles 70 to 80 TEC on the common transport policy.
This corresponds with Title V ‘Transport’, Articles 70 to 80 ToL, but after renumbering these provisions are found in Title VI ‘Transport’, Articles 90 to 100 TFEU.
***
Banking and insurance are treated differently. Liberalisation of these sectors is supposed to advance in step with measures to open up the capital markets.
The second paragraph refers to the current Chapter 4 ‘Capital and payments’, Articles 56 to 60 TEC.
The corresponding ToL chapter is Chapter 4 ‘Capital and payments’, Articles 56 to 59 (with Article 61h ToL being renumbered Article 75 TFEU and moved to the provisions on the area of freedom, security and justice).
In the consolidated Lisbon Treaty Chapter 4 ‘Capital and payments’ includes the Articles 63 to 66 TFEU.
***
The interested reader can move directly to the sector specific treaty provisions mentioned above. This series of blog posts is advancing one Article at a time, so we will look at these provisions in due time.
At this stage, some further reading is suggested for interested readers.
***
Transport
A general introduction to EU transport policies is offered through the links of the European Commission’s Transport home page:
http://ec.europa.eu/transport/index_en.html
The European Commission dedicates pages 76 to 83 of its ‘General Report on the Activities of the European Union 2007’ to transport with subheadings on rail transport, road transport, maritime transport, inland navigation, air transport, intermodal approach (Galileo), international developments and Trans-European transport networks (TEN-T).
The government of Sweden publishes yearly reports to the parliament (and the public) on the activities of the European institutions: the EU, the Council of Europe and the OSCE. The depth of the EU report ‘Regeringens skrivelse 2007/08: 85 Berättelse om verksamheten i Europeiska unionen under 2007’, published 6 March 2008, is fully comparable to that of the Commission.
Part 7 (Del 7 Transporter, elektroniska kommunikationer och energi) deals with transport policy from page 163 to 180.
***
Banking and insurance (financial services; capital and payments)
A starting point for EU policies on financial services is offered through the links on the Commission’s internal market web page ‘Financial Services – General Policy:
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/finances/index_en.htm
Under the heading ‘Freedom to provide services and freedom of establishment’ the European Commission deals with developments concerning financial services on pages 50 to 53 of its ‘General Report on the Activities of the European Union 2007’.
Part 6 on competitiveness (Del 6 Konkurrenskraftsfrågor) of the Swedish report on EU activities in 2007 includes Chapter 29 on the free movement of services and capital (29 Fri rörlighet för tjänster och kapital), from page 139 to 142.
The UK House of Lords European Union Committee’s report ‘Single Market: Wallflower of Dancing Partner? Inquiry into the European Commission’s Review of the Single Market, Volume I: Report (HL Paper 36-I, published 8 February 2008) dedicates Chapter 7 to financial services (page 32 to 37).
The starting point of this timely assessment was the Committee’s feeling of an area in which the lack of progress has been disappointing.
***
The separateness of transport services and the parallel introduction of measures concerning banking and insurance services (financial services) with liberalisation of capital markets is underlined by the fact that they are excluded from the scope of the general Services Directive, to be implemented by the member states before 28 December 2009.
See Article 1 ‘Subject matter’, Article 2 ‘Scope’ and Article 3 ‘Relationship with other provisions of Community law’ of Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on services in the internal market, OJ 27.12.2006 L 376, p. 36–68:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:376:0036:0068:EN:PDF
The express exclusion of transport services follows from Article 2(2)(d) and of financial services, such as banking and insurance from Article 2(2)(b) of the general Services Directive.
Ralf Grahn
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Subscribe To Grahnlaw
Posts
All Comments
