WIREDGOV

European Union Finance Ministers on December 10 took further steps in the development of the Banking Union by agreeing on a mandate for final negotiation stage on Bank Recovery and Resolution as well as Deposit Guarantee Schemes directives with European Parliament. The Ministers also defined the guidelines on various elements of SRM which should facilitate an agreement on the proposal in the ECOFIN Council on December 18.

“On the Single Resolution Mechanism, we have no formal result in our pocket or on the table but we made a huge leap forward defining the concrete directions and schemes than can be consulted with the experts of the Member States and then put forward for the ECOFIN next week,” said Rimantas Šadžius, Lithuanian Finance Minister and Chair of the ECOFIN Council.
 
On the basis of the ministers’ discussion, the Lithuanian Presidency will continue work to present the compromise legal proposals for the ECOFIN next week.
 
The minister said that the updated mandate on the Bank Recovery and Resolution as well as Deposit Guarantee Schemes directives will make possible for the Lithuanian Presidency to conclude the negotiations with the European Parliament this year.
 
“Bank Recovery and Resolution as well as Deposit Guarantee Schemes directives shall create an essential foundation for all further efforts to build the Banking Union, one of the top priorities of the Lithuanian Presidency,” said Minister Šadžius.
 
Council continued a discussion on taxation of savings income, which the Ministers discussed in November meeting as well. ECOFIN, however, was not able to reach an agreement, which requires unanimity. This state of play on this important dossier will be noted in the ECOFIN report to the European Council as the Presidency included this issue on the December ECOFIN agenda responding to the request by the European Council to reach political agreement by the end of 2013.
 
Council also indicated that further work is needed to secure unanimous agreement on a Council Regulation establishing a facility for providing financial assistance for Member States whose currency is not euro. 

In terms of implementation of Stability and Growth Pact provisions, the Ministers decided that no effective action has been taken by Poland in response to the Council Recommendation of June of this year and set 2015 as a new deadline for the correction of an excessive government deficit. The Council also adopted opinions on the Economic partnership programmes, which detail the steps to correct excessive deficits, for five euro area Member States.
 
The Ministers also exchanged views on the Alert Mechanism Report in the context of the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure and Annual Growth Survey 2014. 
 
The President of the Court of Auditors presented the Court’s annual report on the implementation of the budget for the financial year 2012 as well.