Redegørelse vedr. rådsmøde økofin 2/12-08

8. december 2008
Referat af økonomi- og finansministermøde (ECOFIN) den 2. decem-
ber 2008 til Folketingets Europaudvalg
Dagsordenspunkt 1 Forberedelse af Det Europæiske Råd den 11.-12. decem-
ber 2008
ECOFIN nåede til enighed om et bidrag til DER den 11.-12. december 2008. Bidraget
omhandler bl.a. koordinerede økonomisk-politiske tiltag med henblik på at styrke
vækst og beskæftigelse i EU under fortsat hensynstagen til finanspolitisk holdbarhed.
EU-landene var enige i, at evt. kortsigtede nationale initiativer bør være midlertidige og
målrettede og tage hensyn til landespecifikke udfordringer og behov. ECOFIN var
endvidere enig i, at kortsigtede tiltag skal gennemføres i overensstemmelse med mel-
lemfristede finanspolitiske strategier og fortsat implementering af strukturelle refor-
mer. Herudover vedrører ECOFIN’s bidrag til DER finansiel stabilitet og finansielt
tilsyn, og det videre arbejde i forhold til EU’s handlingsplan og opfølgning på G20-
mødet.
Dagsordenspunkt 2 Finansielle tjenesteydelser
Forud for ECOFIN konstaterede formandskabet, at der var opnået enighed om de
finansielle sager på dagsordenen for ECOFIN vedrørende kapitalkravsdirektivet, Sol-
vens II, direktivet om investeringsinstitutter (UCITS) samt direktivet om indskyderga-
rantiordninger og lagde op til, at disse punkter kunne godkendes som a-punkter. På
ECOFIN var der imidlertid alligevel en drøftelse af Solvens II, herunder vedrørende
gruppetilsyn, gruppestøtte og muligheden for at udjævne svingninger i aktiekurser i
forsikrings- og pensionsselskaber, samt af UCITS. Der blev opnået enighed om en
generel tilgang for samtlige finansielle sager med henblik på videre forhandling med
Europa-Parlamentet. ECOFIN ventes herefter endeligt at vedtage direktiverne
Dagsordenspunkt 3a Nedsat moms
ECOFIN drøftede Kommissionens forslag vedrørende nedsatte momssatser. Forsla-
get lægger op til, at alle lande permanent kan anvende nedsat moms for såkaldt ar-
bejdskraftintensive ydelser, og at listen over berørte ydelser udvides. ECOFIN nåede
ikke til enighed om forslaget.
Dagsordenspunkt 3b Moms på finansielle tjenesteydelser og forsikringstjene-
steydelser
Dagsordenspunktet blev behandlet som et a-punkt. Formandskabets fremskridtsrap-
port, som giver en status for arbejdet i rådsarbejdsgruppen vedrørende direktivforsla-
get om moms på finansielle og forsikringstjenesteydelser, blev godkendt uden drøftel-
se.
Offentligt
2911 - Økofin - Bilag 6
Europaudvalget 2008
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Dagsordenspunkt 3c Rentebeskatningsdirektivet
ECOFIN tog Kommissionens rapport om de første tre års erfaringer med rentebe-
skatningsdirektivet til efterretning og vedtog konklusioner, der støtter videre arbejde
med Kommissionens forslag til justeringer i direktivet. De foreslåede justeringer ved-
rører bl.a. udvidelse af definitionen af rentebetalinger og reduktion af muligheden for
at omgå direktivet.
Dagsordenspunkt 3d Adfærdskodeks for erhvervsbeskatning
ECOFIN drøftede rapporten fra adfærdskodeksgruppen for erhvervsbeskatning om
det fortsatte arbejde med at overvåge, om nyindførte skatteordninger i EU-landene er i
overensstemmelse med kodeksen. ECOFIN tog rapporten til efterretning.
Dagsordenspunkt 3e Exitbeskatning
ECOFIN vedtog rådskonklusioner, der opstiller retningslinjer for medlemslandenes
exitskatteregler, uden drøftelse.
Dagsordenspunkt 4 Revisionsrettens årsberetning 2007
Revisionsrettens formand præsenterede årsrapporten for 2007 for ECOFIN, og
ECOFIN tog præsentationen til efterretning. Rapporten vil blive behandlet i Rådets
budgetgruppe, hvorefter udkast til Rådets dechargehenstilling forventes at blive fore-
lagt ECOFIN på mødet i februar 2009.
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Bilag
Rådskonklusioner vedr. indskydergarantiordninger
The Council arrived at a general approach on a draft Directive aimed at
tightening up the rules on bank deposit guarantee schemes in order to im-
prove confidence in the banking sector (16030/08 +COR 1).
On the basis of this approach, the Presidency will continue its contacts with
the European Parliament in order to reach an agreement enabling the Di-
rective to be adopted at first reading, before the end of the parliamentary
term.
The draft Directive seeks to ensure better protection for savers by amend-
ing Directive 94/19/EC.
Deposit guarantee schemes are intended to prevent panic reactions by
savers if a bank is experiencing difficulties or loses public confidence.
The Council's general approach provides for:
– raising the deposit guarantee level to EUR 50 000, rather than the
present EUR 20 000, from 30 June 2009 and harmonising the level
at EUR 100 000 from 31 December 2011. That harmonisation should
make it possible to avoid the distortion of competition among banks
which appeared during the financial crisis (in the form of massive
deposit transfers from banks affiliated to a scheme offering a low
coverage level to banks affiliated to a scheme offering a high cover-
age level);
– a period of five working days to establish that a credit institution has
failed to repay deposits which are due and payable, and of 20 work-
ing days, subject to extension by 10 working days, to make the re-
payment. The corresponding periods are at present 21 working days
and three months, subject to two three-month extensions. Overall,
the payout period could not exceed 35 working days, compared with
10 months at present.
The European Parliament's vote is expected during the week of 15 Decem-
ber.
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Rådskonklusioner vedr. kapitalkravsdirektivet
The Council worked out a general approach on a draft Directive aimed at
tightening up the rules on own funds requirements for banks (16216/08).
On the basis of this approach, the Presidency will continue its contacts with
the European Parliament in order to reach an agreement enabling the Di-
rective to be adopted at first reading, before the end of the parliamentary
term.
The Council's general approach amends Directives 2006/48/EC and
2006/49/EC1 in five respects:
– Strengthened supervision of cross-border banking groups: (a) deci-
sions relating to risk assessment and additional capital requirements
would be closely coordinated between the supervisor of the parent
undertaking and the supervisors of its subsidiaries; (b) reporting re-
quirements would be fully harmonised at European level in 2012; (c)
colleges of supervisors, chaired by the supervisor of the parent un-
dertaking, would be established for all cross-border groups; (d) the
role of the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS)
would be strengthened; (e) the mandates of national supervisory au-
thorities should be given a European dimension;
– framework for securitisation practices: as a response to the faults of
the "originate to distribute" model revealed by the financial crisis, due
diligence and transparency obligations imposed on the originators of
securitisation operations and on investors would be strengthened.
Investors should be able to assess the risks involved in structured
products otherwise than solely by means of the rating given by
agencies. Alongside these qualitative requirements, the draft adds
one quantitative one – the obligation for originators to retain 5 % of
risks transferred or sold to investors on their balance sheet – whose
purpose is to increase incentives to conduct better risk assessment;
– harmonisation of the classification of banks' tier 1 capital funds and
hybrid instruments, with a central role given to the CEBS in ensuring
greater uniformity of supervisors' practices in this area;
– introduction of rules on liquidity risk management, in particular as re-
gards setting up liquid asset reserves, conducting liquidity stress
tests and establishing contingency plans;
– tighter supervision of exposure to a single counterparty ("large expo-
sures"): the text establishes arrangements which place a greater re-
striction on the extent of exposure to a single counterparty, whatever
its nature, including when it is a bank (in all cases, the limit is 25 % of
banks' own funds). Within the current framework, concentration limits
for bank counterparties are less restrictive than for "undertaking"
counterparties, yet the financial crisis has shown that bank counter-
parties also present a risk of default.
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The European Parliament's vote is expected next April.
Rådskonklusioner vedr. Solvens II
The Council worked out a general approach on a draft Directive laying
down new solvency rules for insurance companies ("Solvency II" Directive)
(16237/08 + COR 1).
On the basis of this approach, the Presidency will continue its contacts with
the European
Parliament in order to reach an agreement enabling the Directive to be
adopted at first reading, before the end of the parliamentary term.
The purpose of the draft Directive is to update current legislative arrange-
ments by recasting 14 Directives on insurance into a single legal act, since
current solvency rules are substantially out of date.
It aims to:
– deepen the integration of the Community insurance and reinsurance
market;
– strengthen the protection of policyholders and beneficiaries;
– enhance the international competitiveness of insurers and reinsurers
in Europe.
As regards group supervision, the "group support" that initially appeared in
the Commission's proposal no longer appears in the Council's general ap-
proach. That system : (i) placed key supervisory decisions in the hands of
the group supervisor alone (approval of the internal model, imposition of
additional capital requirements, etc.), and (2) allowed the parent company,
under the control of the group supervisor, to cover part of the subsidiaries'
capital requirements with a promise of support.
The Council's general approach does however represent some progress on
a number of points concerning group supervision:
– Creation of "colleges of supervisors": places for information ex-
change and discussion between the supervisors of parent compa-
nies and the supervisors of subsidiaries;
– Strengthening of the role of the Committee of European Insurance
and Occupational Pensions Supervisors, which should ensure great-
er convergence of prudential practices and may be consulted when
disagreements between supervisors of a college need to be
smoothed out;
– Recognition of mutual benefit insurance companies which, like the
other groups, could draw advantage from diversification between the
risks they bear.
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In sum, the Council's approach is based on an idea of insurance-group su-
pervision that is as ambitious as that which obtains for banks. This system
will reduce risk of uncoordinated decisions between supervisors.
Rådskonklusioner vedr. investeringsinstitutter (UCITS)
The Council worked out a general approach on a draft Directive aimed at
modernising the rules governing undertakings for collective investment in
transferable securities (UCITS) (16214/08 + COR 2).
On the basis of this approach, the Presidency will continue its contacts with
the European Parliament in order to reach an agreement enabling the Di-
rective to be adopted at first reading, before the end of the parliamentary
term.
This proposal for a Directive seeks to modernise the regulatory framework
applicable to European investment funds – undertakings for collective in-
vestment in transferable securities (UCITS) – which represent a market of
EUR 6 000 to 7 000 billion. This financial product, in which millions of Euro-
pean consumers invest, has a European label of world quality.
The aim of revising the Directive is to modernise the regulatory framework
applicable to these financial products in order to:
– offer investors a greater choice of product at lower cost through bet-
ter integration of the internal market;
– provide investors with suitable protection through high-quality infor-
mation and more efficient supervision;
– maintain the competitiveness of the European industry by adjusting
the regulatory framework to developments in the market.
Against this background, the text has six objectives:
– improve investor information by creating a standardised summary in-
formation document: "key information for investors"; this is an inno-
vative approach aimed at making it easier for the consumer to un-
derstand the product;
– create a genuine European passport for UCITS management com-
panies – this is the last piece missing from the internal market as re-
gards UCITS management: a management company located in a
Member State will be able to manage funds in other Member States;
– facilitate crossborder marketing of UCITS by simplifying administra-
tive procedures;
– facilitate crossborder mergers of UCITS, which will make it possible
to increase the average size of European funds;
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– facilitate asset pooling by creating a framework for the system of
"master-feeder" arrangements whereby a fund invests more than 85
% of its assets in another fund;
– strengthen the supervision of UCITS and of the companies that
manage them, by means of enhanced cooperation between supervi-
sors: the Directive encourages the exchange of information between
supervisors, harmonises the powers of supervisors, and allows for
the possibility of on-the-spot investigation, consultation mechanisms
and mutual-aid mechanisms for the imposition of penalties, in partic-
ular.
For further details, see press release 16562/08.
The European Parliament's vote is expected in January or February 2009.
Rådskonklusioner vedr. moms på finansielle tjenesteydelser og forsikringstjenes-
teydelser
The Council adopted without discussion conclusions in which it:
– noted the progress report by the Presidency on the VAT arrange-
ments applying to insurance and financial services (in 15793/2/08
REV 2 FISC 156), and progress to date on the proposal for a Di-
rective;
– invited the incoming Presidency to build on progress made in seek-
ing to reduce the differences in approach and the drafting difficulties
encountered in the examination of the proposal for a Directive sub-
mitted by the Commission. A detailed examination of the proposed
implementing regulation could help to identify the components of a
compromise;
– was invited to take stock of progress before the end of the first half of
2009.
The proposals for a Directive and a Regulation are aimed at clarifying the
provisions of Directive 2006/112/EC on the common system of VAT as re-
gards financial services, which are exempt from VAT.
They thus aim to increase legal certainty for economic operators and na-
tional tax administrations, reduce their administrative burdens and lessen
the impact of hidden VAT on the costs of service providers. The existing
definitions were established in the 1970s and have led to uneven interpreta-
tion by the Member States, causing distortions of competition
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Rådskonklusioner vedr. koordination af systemer for direkte beskatning - exit-
beskatning
The Council adopted the Resolution set out in 16412/08.
This Resolution lays down the guiding principles on exit taxes which Mem-
ber States undertake to comply with, in order to organise the taxation ar-
rangements between Member States in the event of transfers of economic
activities and avoid double taxation.
It provides that:
– where the exit State applies an exit tax and the host State imposes a
tax on gains, the two States will refer to a common value for calculat-
ing the tax: the market value on the date of transfer of economic ac-
tivities;
– in the event of disagreement on the value arrived at, the Member
States will set up a procedure for settling their dispute;
– the Directive on mutual assistance is the appropriate framework for
the information exchanges required for proper application of the prin-
ciple concerned.
This is the first time that the Commission's initiative on the coordination of
Member States' direct taxation systems (see 17066/06 Fisc 175) has taken
tangible form, in a Council Resolution.