Publication Archive

 

 

This archive contains all documents published by cep over the last few years:

cepAdhoc: Incisive comment on current EU policy issues

cepPolicyBrief: Concise reviews of EU proposals (Regulations, Directives, Green Papers, White Papers, Communications) – including an executive summary

cepInput: Impulse to current challenges of EU policies

cepStudy: Comprehensive examination of EU policy proposals affecting the economy

 

 

2014

The wishes to limit the term of the contracts entered into by credit rating agencies and issuers as well as the participation volume in credit rating agencies in order to strengthen the independence of credit rating agencies. In future, structured finance instruments will be subjected to ratings by at least two credit rating agencies. Moreover, the Commission wishes to prescribe civil liability for credit rating agencies. 

2014

With its Regulation, the Commission wishes to exempt aid of up to 500,000 Euros for the provision of services of general economic interest (SGEI) from the obligation to obtain approval for the period of three fiscal years. According to the Commission de minimis aid is  unproblematic for they are regarded as measures  which do not distort competition and also do not have a negative effect on trade between Member States.

2014

According to the Commission, the EU needs to invest in energy infrastructure in order to achieve its energy and climate policy targets by 2020. To this end, the guidelines, which are proposed in the form of a Regulation, streamline and better coordinate national permit granting procedures for projects of common interest (PCIs).

2014

The Commission presents three options for the implementation of Eurobonds and puts up for discussion the related pros and cons. With regard to the pros it mentions in particular the alleviation of the current debt crisis, the stabilisation of the banking system and the increased liquidity of the government bonds market. With regard to the cons it mentions the reduced incentives for budgetary discipline. For instance, Member States can run up debts at the expense of the budgetary discipline of other Member States, without this having an affect on their financing costs.

2014

The Commission announces to draw up together with enterprises and other stakeholder a code of conduct in 2012. All enterprises are to commit to comply with CSR approaches on a voluntary basis. In addition, enterprises with more than 1000 employees are to adhere to the internationally recognized ISO 26000 Guidance Standards. In order to establish such self-commitments, the Commission wishes to revise the legal framework, in particular in the field of public procurement and thus put enterprises under pressure.

2014

The Commission is initiating a consultation with the aim to (at first) adopt a non-binding recommendation. The recommendation is to serve as guidance to national regulatory authorities for fixing access prices during the transition phase between copper networks and fibre glass networks.  This approach is to create incentives for investments in ultra-fast NGA networks.

2014

The Commission proposes to introduce EU-wide minimum rules regarding criminal sanctions for insider dealing and market manipulation. It wishes to harmonise the offences yet not the levels of penalties. To date, there are only administrative sanctions. The Commission’s aim is to increase the deterrent effect of national sanctions. 

2014

The EU wishes to establish a “complete and integrated trans-European transport network” (TEN-T) which includes all transport modes and a “dual-layer structure”. To this end, the Commission wishes to enhance coordination in planning and the design of a sound governance structure. TEN-T is to meet the mobility and transport needs within the EU and third countries, guarantee the “accessibility“ of all regions of  the EU and remove bottlenecks in transport.

2014

The tax is to apply to transactions with financial instruments, both in the organised markets and over-the-counter trading. It is to generate revenues for the public purse and to increase the stability of financial markets. The Commission expects EU-wide tax revenues of roughly 57 billion Euros a year. They are to flow wholly or partly into the EU budget through an own resources system of the European Union.

2014

The Proposal provides for an introduction of a European Account Preservation Order. Such order is to be issued if the existence of a debt claim is made credible. For the enforcement of a decision, Member States must appoint enforcement authorities which must approve the order without any further examination and preserve the debtor’s bank account. If the creditor does not know the debtors’ bank accounts, banks are obliged to disclose them or authorities are entitled to search for them in national registers. Debtors are not being notified until after the preservation of their accounts.