The Commission submits a Green Paper in order to discuss the future role and scope of an audit in the “general context of financial market regulatory reform”. Governance rules and an improved supervision are to contribute to more competition and increased stability in the financial system.

During the “energy summit” on 4 February 2011, the European Council will discuss the Commission’s “Energy Strategy 2020“ and its „concept for an integrated European energy network”. According to the Commission’s estimate approximately 1 trillion Euros must be invested in the EU energy system by 2020 in order to achieve the EU targets for renewable energies and energy efficiency and to develop the necessary energy infrastructure.

According to the Commission, the EU must urgently invest in outdated and poorly interconnected energy infrastructure in order to meet their energy policy and climate objectives by 2020. To this end, national approval procedures for projects of European interest are to be streamlined and better coordinated. The Commission announces to submit guidelines or a legislative proposal on cost allocation to address major or cross-border projects through tariff or investment rules in 2011. 

In Spring 2011, the Commission will be publishing a “European resolution framework”. This framework is to allow credit institutions to fail whilst avoiding costs to taxpayers and without endangering financial stability. 

Already in the “Women’s Charter“ of March 2010, the Commission announced to strengthen the gender perspective in all its policies. The current Communication substantiates the Commission’s announcement by describing the key areas for action and which measures it wishes to take. The Commission remains rather vague in its Communication, but has published a working document [SEC(2010) 1079] accompanying the Communication with a catalogue of 130 specific, non-legislative measures.

The Commission is changing the rules regarding derivatives which are concluded and traded directly between counterparties (“over-the-counter“, OTC). It wishes that having OTC deals be cleared by central counterparties (CCPs) seated in the EU. Different regulations for financial service providers on the one hand and undertakings on the other hand, and a distinction between speculative OTC derivatives and those serving to hedge real corporate risks are to help improve the stability of the financial system.

The current Euro crisis is mainly rooted in the Member States excessive public debts. Consequently, settling the problem of debt should be at the heart of crisis management. To this end, the Commission published a reform package on 29 September. It encompasses amendments to the Stability and Growth Pact and, at the same time, a macroeconomic surveillance flanking the Pact. Thus the Commission wishes to ensure that, in future, the Stability and Growth Pact will be applied in a more efficient, sharper and more thorough manner.

The Commission proposes to entitle undertakings established in a third country to transfer their managers and specialists to their EU subsidiaries. To this end, a uniform procedure for granting residence and working permits should be established in all Member States. The permit is granted for the duration of the transfer and can be extended by up to three years. It is equally valid for transfers to subsidiaries in other Member states if limited to 12 months. Family member should be entitled to enter the EU along with the employee concerned without any integration measures being required before their entry.

The first railway package of 2001 consists of three Directives which form the basis for the European railway legislation. According to the Commission, the present summary and recast version is to remove any insufficiencies, uncertainties and gaps in the regulatory framework. It further encompasses the removal of barriers to competition and the reform of regulatory oversight (1. Part), as well as questions regarding the development and operation of the railway infrastructure (2. Part).Its major aim is to provide for a non-discriminatory competition in the railway traffic market.

The EU Energy Strategy 2020 is focusing on five „priorities“: (1) increase in energy efficiency, (2) building a “pan-European integrated energy market“, (3) consumer protection and safety and security standards, (4) further development of energy technologies and (5) strengthening the external dimension of the EU energy market.

The Commission criticises the current EU energy policy in that the internal energy market is still fragmented and the efforts by Member States to increase energy efficiency are “disappointing“. Moreover, there is a lack of energy system investments of EUR 1 trillion and technological progress.