Redegørelse vedr. rådsmøde økofin 7/10-08

14. oktober 2008
6. kontor, MIJ
J.nr. 44-162
Referat af rådsmødet (ECOFIN) den 7. oktober 2008
Dagsordenspunkt 1: Forberedelse af Det Europæiske Råd den 15.-16. ok-
tober 2008
ECOFIN drøftede den aktuelle situation på de finansielle markeder og nåede til
enighed om konklusioner herom (jf. vedlagte bilag). Konklusionerne indeholder bl.a.
fælles retningslinier i EU for eventuelle statslige interventioner på de finansielle
markeder som reaktion på den finansielle uro.
ECOFIN drøftede – som led i forberedelserne af Det Europæiske Råd 15.-16.
oktober 2008 – den økonomiske og finansielle stiuation og nåede til enighed om
rådskonklusioner herom, herunder om de første ti år med Den Økonomiske og
Monetære Union (ØMU’en) og om aflønning af topledere (jf. vedlagte bilag).
ECOFIN drøftede endvidere formandskabets rapport vedr. udviklingen i olie- og
råvarepriser. Rapporten sendes på formandskabets vegne til Det Europæiske Råd.
Dagsordenspunkt 2a: Solvens II
ECOFIN havde en udveksling af synspunkter om Kommissionens Solvens II-
direktivforslag. Direktivforslaget, som bl.a. skal sikre at de europæiske forsikrings-
institutters kapitalkrav bedre afspejler de risici de er eksponeret over for, ventes
drøftet igen på et senere rådsmøde.
Dagsordenspunkt 3a: Bekæmpelse af momssvig
ECOFIN drøftede Kommissionens forslag til ændring af Momsdiretivet og For-
ordningen om det administrative momssamarbejde mhp. bekæmpelse af momssvig
ved handel inden for fælleskabet. ECOFIN ventes at vende tilbage til sagen på et
senere rådsmøde.
ECOFIN nåede endvidere til enighed om rådskonklusioner vedr. retningslinjer for
samarbejdet mellem medlemslandene om hurtig udveksling af informationer mhp.
bekæmpelse af momssvig, det såkaldte EUROFISC-samarbejde (jf. vedlagte bilag).
Dagsordenspunkt 3b: Nedsat moms
ECOFIN havde – som opfølgning på det uformelle ECOFIN i september – en
udveksling af synspunkter om de økonomiske og budgetmæssige konsekvenser af
anvendelsen af nedsatte momssatser i medlemslandene. Kommissionen har frem-
sat et direktivforslag vedr. anvendelsen af nedsatte momssatser, og ECOFIN vil
muligvis drøfte dette forslag på mødet i november.
Offentligt
2894 - økofin - Bilag 6
Europaudvalget 2008
2
Diverse
I margin af ECOFIN mødtes ministrene med middelhavslandenes finansministre
til det såkaldte Euromed-møde. På mødet drøftedes bl.a. de fælles udfordringer for
de to regioner, og ministrene drøftede EIB’s lånefacilitet for investeringer og part-
nerskab mellem EU og Middelhavsområdet (FEMIP). I margin af ECOFIN orien-
terede formanden for eurogruppen endvidere ministrene om gruppens møde den
6. oktober 2008.
3
Bilag
Rådskonklusioner vedr. den aktuelle finansielle situation
"In the current troubled situation in the financial sector, and building on our
Heads of State and Governments' declaration of 6 October, we agree that the pri-
ority is to restore confidence and proper functioning of the financial sector.
We have agreed to support systemic financial institutions. We all commit to take
all necessary measures to enhance the soundness and stability of our banking sys-
tem and to protect the deposits of individual savers. EU authorities and Member
States will remain in daily contact through the EFC in order to share information
and ensure a comprehensive and coordinated response to the current situation and
our continued effort to work on our common principles, ahead of the Europe-
an Council.
We welcome the actions taken by the ECB and the national central banks since the
beginning of the turmoil. The liquidity of the financial system shall be ensured by
all authorities in order to preserve confidence and stability.
We reaffirm our call on financial institutions in Europe to achieve full transparen-
cy and we will closely monitor the progress achieved in this regard.
We agree to coordinate closely in our actions and to take into consideration poten-
tial cross-border effects of national decisions. We agree that public intervention
has to be decided at national level in a coordinated framework.
To protect the depositors' interests and the stability of the system, we stress the
appropriateness of an approach including, among other means, recapitalisation of
vulnerable systemically relevant financial institutions. We are prepared to act ac-
cordingly in this context.
We agree on EU common principles so as to guide our action:
– interventions should be timely and the support should in principle be
temporary;
– we will be watchful regarding the interests of taxpayers;
– existing shareholders should bear the due consequences of the interven-
tion;
– the government should be in a position to bring about a change of man-
agement;
– the management should not retain undue benefits – governments may
have inter alia the power to intervene in remuneration;
4
– legitimate interest of competitors must be protected, in particular through
the state aids rules;
– negative spillover effects should be avoided.
We will ensure rapid cooperation within the EU, with reference to the Memoran-
dum of Understanding, in particular as regards cross-border financial institutions.
We underline the necessity of avoiding any distortion of treatment between US
and European banks due to differences in accounting rules. We take note of the
flexibility in the application of mark to market valuation under IFRS as outlined in
recent guidance from the IASB. Ecofin strongly recommends that supervisors and
auditors in the EU apply this new guidance immediately. We also consider that the
issue of asset reclassification must be resolved quickly. To this end, we urge the
IASB and the FASB to work together on this issue and welcome the readiness of
the Commission to bring forward appropriate measures as soon as possible. We
expect this issue to be solved by the end of the month, with the objective to im-
plement as of the third quarter, in accordance with the relevant procedures.
We welcome the Commission's continued commitment to act quickly and apply
flexibility in state aid decisions, within the framework of the single market and
state aid regime. The Council welcomes the Commission's commitment to shortly
issue guidance setting out the broad framework within which the state aid compat-
ibility of recapitalisation and guarantee schemes, and cases of application of such
schemes, could be rapidly assessed.
The application of the Stability and Growth Pact should also reflect the current
exceptional circumstances, in accordance with the provisions of the Pact.
Several Member States have recently increased the level of coverage of national
deposit guarantee schemes. We agreed that all Member States would, for an initial
period of at least one year, provide deposit guarantee protection for individuals for
an amount of at least EUR 50 000, acknowledging that many Member States de-
termine to raise their minimum to EUR 100 000. We welcome the intention of the
Commission to bring forward urgently an appropriate proposal to promote con-
vergence of deposit guarantee schemes.
This short term strategy is fully consistent with the framework established by the
Ecofin since October 2007, which aims at fostering transparency and responsibil-
ity within the financial sector, in coordination with our partners, notably within the
FSF."
5
Rådskonklusioner vedr. den økonomiske situation
"During the last quarters, the EU economy has been hit by several major shocks,
including financial market turmoil and the rise in commodity prices, which imply a
transfer of wealth to producing countries, even if the recent weeks have shown
some improvement on the latter front.
The economic slowdown in the EU during the second quarter of 2008 has been
more abrupt than envisaged a few months ago. At the same time, as a result of the
rise in energy and food prices, inflation has been unusually high.
Even if European economies are better equipped to face this slowdown than in
the past, thanks to the reforms carried out in recent years, near term outlook for
growth remains relatively weak, whereas the recent decrease in oil and food prices,
which had largely contributed to feeding inflation, and the economic slowdown,
should contribute to alleviate inflationary pressures in the next few months.
To a large extent Member States are facing common shocks. The economic situa-
tion calls for a coordinated response at the EU level, based on a common under-
standing of the problems at hand, with some common features and also national
specificities – taking into account the fact that there is some variation in initial
situations as well as in the manner the shocks are transmitting across Member
States' economies.
A strategy for EU member States could build on the following elements:
(a) At the macroeconomic and structural level, ensure domestic policies are in
place to support growth in a sustainable manner
European macroeconomic policies need to respond in an appropriate and con-
sistent way to the shocks stemming from the global economy. These shocks are to
a large extent faced by all Member States, even though the precise effect on the
economies may differ across economies – notably in view of the importance of the
financial shock and housing market evolutions – and across groups – measures
have often been taken to support the most vulnerable.
At the current juncture, designing policies which help curb the inflation, thereby
improving purchasing power of people, fostering sustainable growth and help re-
storing an environment supportive to monetary policy, is key.
Ministers are fully committed to implement policies that are in line with this objec-
tive:
– structural reforms should be pursued vigorously since they can strength-
en the resilience and adjustment capacity of the economy and, by increas-
ing growth potential, allow the economy to fully benefit from the future
upswing while helping absorb the shocks in the short run through in-
creased flexibility. In particular, reforms such as enhanced competition in
product and service markets – notably in retail services – should help re-
duce inflationary pressures, thereby supporting the purchasing power. Al-
6
so, improved labour market flexibility and mobility can contribute to a
quicker adjustment of the economy. Member States should set out ambi-
tious National reform programmes this autumn and firmly implement
them.
– wages should be supportive of employment and competitiveness. Dia-
logue with social partners will be pursued by Ministers this autumn.
– fiscal prudence is necessary to support confidence notably in view of the
ageing of the population and to ensure a good mix between fiscal and
monetary policy. The 2005 reformed Stability and growth Pact is the ade-
quate framework and should be fully applied. It contains flexibility to al-
low for fiscal policy to play its normal stabilisation function. In particular,
relatively large European automatic stabilisers can help cushion the slow-
down, while respecting the 3 % of GDP deficit threshold. In countries
facing more severe slowdown and where room for manoeuvre exists,
temporary and targeted measures may be taken, notably towards those
most affected by the current economic situation. They would also have to
take into account the specific challenges of the country concerned, i.e.
the need to recover competitiveness.
More broadly, the Council agrees that during the last ten years, the Economic and
Monetary Union (EMU) has contributed to macroeconomic stability and that now
more than ever, it is proving to be a major asset. Europe is not insulated from
developments in the global economy but, also thanks to the reform process, it is
better equipped to cope with the current shocks than in the past. Nevertheless,
within the existing framework, there is potential to reap further benefits from
EMU and to improve the performance of EU Member States.
– In order to ensure a prudent fiscal stance throughout the cycle, recent
experience suggests that work is needed to better take into account the
effects of economic cycles, and of the related cycles in asset prices, on tax
revenues.
– Also, coordination should be broadened to macroeconomic develop-
ments beyond fiscal policy. In particular, in light of the recent experience,
which shows the importance to avoid building up imbalances, the Coun-
cil agrees that competitiveness developments should be better monitored,
notably within the euro area and for ERM II countries.
– Finally, structural reforms are key to all Member States. Recommenda-
tions made in this respect should be prioritized to fully take into account
the economic situation. As structural reforms have an added value for the
euro area as a whole, Ministers from the euro area also agree to devote
specific attention to euro area recommendations.
7
(b) Restore confidence on financial markets and avoid excessive tightening of
credit toward SMEs in the EU
The financial turmoil is a key component of the current global economic slow-
down. The key response in the short term remains restoring confidence in the
financial system through a full implementation of the Ecofin roadmap. In this
respect, financial institutions are continuously making efforts to improve disclo-
sure of their exposure to risks; but those efforts still need to be properly assessed
by banking supervisors within CEBS. By the end of the year, we also expect pro-
posals for a revision of the prudential framework for securitisation under the
CRD, which will help to restore confidence in this activity.
On asset valuation, revised standards are urgently awaited from the International
Accounting Standards Board; otherwise, persistent concern about the accounting
treatment of assets will continue to undermine investor confidence.
In the current macroeconomic and financial market situation, it is also important
to monitor and remedy potential procyclical effects. In prudential matters, Basel II
remains a relevant framework to improve risk management. In implementing the
new framework, banking supervisors will monitor the potential procyclical effects
of the new regulation and assess whether remedial measures are needed.
Also, in order to improve the accessibility and availability of finance for SMEs, the
EIB group will adopt a series of reforms to strengthen its SME finance products
as well as offer a substantial development of its global loans to its banking part-
ners, both in quantitative and qualitative terms, ensuring that the benefit reaches
the SMEs, thereby also contributing to the "Small Business Act" initiative.
The EIB is proposing to raise its level of lending to SMEs to up to EUR 15 billion
(+50 %) in 2008/2009, including with a new product line allowing risk sharing
with banks.
The Council asks the working group set up by the European Investment Bank and
the Commission, while also consulting with European institutional investors, to
report back by the December Ecofin on proposals for a further coordinated re-
sponse with a specific focus on energy programmes and infrastructures.
(c) On the external front, contribute to a more favourable environment
Excessive volatility on exchange rate markets is undesirable for economic growth.
The recent re-appreciation of the US dollar vis-à-vis the euro and other European
currencies is welcome.
In some emerging economies with large and growing current account surpluses, it
is crucial that exchange rate moves so that necessary adjustment will occur. These
developments must be seen in their multilateral context. The EU will continue to
monitor them closely, including through the consultation with China planned by
euro area authorities.
8
In response to the current global crisis in the financial sector, Europe should con-
tinue to act proactively in international fora, notably at the FSF and the IMF. Also,
Ministers agree to increase the political impetus to the economic and financial di-
mension of the Union's relations with European Union partners, notably at the
occasion of bilateral Summits."
9
Rådskonklusioner vedr. aflønning af topledere
"In light of the high growth rates of executive pay in recent years, a public discus-
sion has started in a number of countries on the level and structure as well as on
transparency of managers' compensation. From an economic viewpoint, the key
questions are whether executive pay is appropriately linked to performance and
whether shareholders have adequate control over remuneration.
The Council exchanged views and experiences on this topic.
Pay determination is the company's shareholders' and social partners' responsibility
in a market-led environment. However, national authorities have a role to play in
helping to define an appropriate regulatory framework and in encouraging good
practices and voluntary self regulation, for example through principles of good
governance, transparency and disclosure rules, and control rights by shareholders.
The Council agrees that in view of the developments regarding executive pay in
the last years, the effectiveness of some existing provisions warrant further exami-
nation and possibly policy at the national level, taking into account the different
regulatory frameworks in Member States. The Commission's 2004 Recommenda-
tion is appropriate, but a review of the practices and an update could be necessary.
The Council agrees on the following objectives:
– The governance framework should be conducive to an effective control
by shareholders and the governing bodies of the company, including on
remuneration policy. In line with the Commission's 2004 Recommenda-
tion, which recommends measures such as publishing remuneration poli-
cy and devoting an item of the agenda of the annual general meeting, in
order to involve shareholders and the governing bodies of the company
in the decisions, the Council underlines that this is an area where im-
provement would be desirable and that they are ready if needed to under-
take appropriate action.
– Performance should be properly and comprehensibly reflected in execu-
tives' pay, including leaving pay ("golden parachute"), which should be
appropriately linked to the contribution of the executive to the compa-
ny's success.
– Performance criteria should provide the right incentives. As recommend-
ed by the FSF with respect to the financial industry, compensation mod-
els should be aligned with long-term, firm-wide profitability, and national
authorities should work towards mitigating the risks arising from an in-
centive structure focussing on short-term profits. That issue will require
further attention in the coming period, notably by taking into account the
work undertaken by the FSF.
10
– Care should be taken to prevent potential conflicts of interest for execu-
tives conducting mergers and acquisitions, for example whilst they hold
shares or stock-options of the offered company.
The Council welcomes the Commission's intention to continue reviewing compa-
nies' practices and the implementation of the 2004 Recommendation in Member
States, taking into account these policy objectives. The Council agrees that a re-
view of policies related to executive pay in the ECOFIN will be useful and will
contribute providing orientations to members on the basis of best practices."
11
Rådskonklusioner vedr. finansiel stabilitet og europæisk tilsyn
"The Council DISCUSSED the economic situation, recent developments in finan-
cial markets as well as policy responses.
RECOGNISING that the EU and euro area economies are likely to experience
slow growth in 2008 and 2009, reflecting in particular stronger effects of the US
market correction on the global economy, higher commodity prices (albeit partially
reversed in more recent weeks) and tighter credit standards; and
TAKING ACCOUNT OF the current extraordinary stress in global financial
markets and the potential impact of the economic situation;
The Council AGREED on the need to continue pursuing a coordinated response
at the European level, within the scope of Member States' respective responsibili-
ties, coupled with Member States' flexibility to adjust their response to their indi-
vidual situation, and to continue to implement sound structural reforms at the
national level to strengthen resilience to future shocks.
Since the early stages of the current turmoil, public authorities developed policy
responses in view of restoring confidence and safeguard financial stability. The
Council has discussed progress with the implementation of the October 2007
roadmap.
In this context, the Council reached the following conclusions.
The Council
– WELCOMES the work of the Committee of European Banking Supervi-
sors' (CEBS) on transparency and the efforts of most banks in following
CEBS' guidelines on good reporting practices. The Council INVITES all
banks to make further progress concerning transparency on risks valua-
tion and management methodologies;
– RECALLS the urgency to enhance banks' practices for the evaluation of
exposures AND URGES supervisors and accounting standards-setters to
ensure that the financial reporting framework functions properly with
clear guidelines on valuation that can be applied consistently across insti-
tutions;
– WELCOMES the Commission proposals for amendments to the Capital
Requirement Directive (CRD), covering areas such as risk management, a
possible supervisory framework for cross-border groups, crisis manage-
ment and enhanced requirements for securitisation in view of further
strengthening the existing prudential framework and risk management in
the financial sector, as well as the Commission's proposals for amend-
ments to ensure that the risks associated with the "originate-and-
distribute model" (ODM) are properly mitigated. While
12
RECOGNISING the numerous benefits the "originate and distribute
model" has delivered in recent years, it has also introduced complexity
and opacity, thus raising a number of concerns in respect of potential
conflicts of interest and proper incentives to assess the securities traded.
In this context, the Council LOOKS FORWARD to the Commission
proposals in respect of credit rating agencies in follow-up to the Council
conclusions of July 2008;
– STRESSES the need to continue to closely monitor the economic and
financial developments; CALLS for full and timely implementation of the
roadmap on follow-up actions to the ongoing financial turmoil and for
coordination with initiatives being considered being considered in inter-
national fora, in particular the Financial Stability Forum, the International
Monetary Fund and the international standards setting bodies;
– RECALLS that in the current situation it is important to monitor and
remedy potential pro-cyclical effects. In prudential matters, Basel II and
the CRD remain the relevant frameworks to improve risk management.
In implementing the new framework, banking supervisors will monitor
the potential pro-cyclical effects of the new regulation and asses whether
remedial measures are needed. Consistent with the FSF and Basel com-
mittee work, the Council AGREES to set up a European working group
that will assess more broadly the range of policy responses that might
help to mitigate undue potential pro-cyclical effects of the financial sys-
tem;
– STRESSES the need to ensure the functioning of the cross-border stabil-
ity arrangements as envisaged in the Memorandum of Understanding on
financial stability agreed in June 2008 between Ministers, Central banks
and the financial supervisors in the EU.
The Council remains fully committed to enhancing the effectiveness of supervi-
sion of the financial sector in Europe: this requires more convergence and harmo-
nisation in the implementation of rules and a strengthening of supervision of cross
border groups.
In respect of the convergence of supervisory practices, the COUNCIL
– AGREES to make EU-wide common reporting formats for a single set
of data requirements and reporting dates, which is much needed both to
ensure an efficient and convergent supervision and to reduce administra-
tive burden for groups, operational by 2012. At this date, there should
indeed be a common set of reporting formats and no extra time should
be allowed;
– LOOKS FORWARD to the revision of the Commission's Decisions, in
follow-up to the Council conclusions of 14 May 2008, and STRESSES
the need to assign specific tasks to the committees of supervisors by the
end of the year, such as, for example, mediation, providing non-legally
13
binding recommendations and guidelines and training and staff exchange.
These tasks should be reflected appropriately in the revised Decisions;
– WELCOMES the agreement reached by supervisory authorities in the
three committees of supervisors to include qualified majority decision-
making in their charters, together with a "comply or explain" procedures,
which will encourage supervisors to comply with the committees' rec-
ommendations as far as possible, and STRESSES the need to monitor
the implementation of these new procedures; and,
– RECALLS the agreement of the 14 May 2008 Council conclusions that
Member States ensure, at the latest by mid-2009, that the mandates of na-
tional supervisors allow them to take the EU dimension into account in
exercising their duties. The Council INVITES the FSC to report in De-
cember on the way each Member State will fulfil its commitment.
Regarding supervision of financial groups, the Council EMPHASIZES the need
for a more efficient system of European supervision of cross border groups."
14
Rådskonklusioner vedr. EUROFISC
"1. In its communication of 23 November 2007 (COM(2007) 758 final), the
Commission presented a whole range of practical and realistic ideas that
would contribute to improving the fight against VAT fraud, and called on
the Council to provide the necessary political guidance for further work
by the expert group on Anti Tax Fraud Strategy.
In section 3.2 of its communication, the Commission recognised that ob-
taining very rapidly the information gathered in other Member States on
certain fraudulent transactions or fraudulent traders was a major tool for
Member States. It referred to the mechanism developed by the Belgian
tax administration in which several Member States participate with satis-
faction. It indicated that it was open to consideration of an informal
structure, composed of officials from national tax administrations, to fa-
cilitate the exchange of information between national tax authorities.
2. At its meeting on 4 December 2007, the Council took note of the Com-
mission's communication and invited it to continue its work to improve
the management of the European Union's VAT system by the Member
States.
In this spirit, the expert group on Anti Tax Fraud Strategy considered a
project to establish a system called Eurofisc, which aims to improve ad-
ministrative cooperation between the Member States.
3. In parallel, in its oral presentation to the Ecofin Council on 14 May 2008
the Commission stated that it intended to present a proposal in Novem-
ber 2008 for the recasting of Regulation (EC) No 1798/2003 of 7 Octo-
ber 2003 on administrative cooperation in the field of VAT, including
provisions to enable Eurofisc to function properly. The Commission has
made an initial legal analysis of the amendments to be made.
4. At its meeting on 22 July 2008, the Council Working Party on Tax Ques-
tions examined the Presidency working document on the Eurofisc pro-
ject (11714/08 FISC 91). That document lists the possible amendments
to be made to the Regulation on administrative cooperation. The follow-
ing guidelines for Eurofisc were established:
– Eurofisc would be a decentralised network for the exchange of in-
formation on VAT fraud between the Member States, with each of
its tasks being coordinated;
– Eurofisc would observe four general principles: the freedom for
each Member State to participate in any of the network's tasks; ac-
tive participation in the exchange of information; the confidentiali-
ty of the information exchanged; no additional burden on opera-
tors;
15
– Eurofisc would not have legal personality. Its functioning would be
organised by agreement of the participating Member States, with
the support of the Commission. Its tasks would be carried out by
liaison officials who were experts in tax fraud. Their work would be
led by coordinators who they would designate amongst themselves.
Eurofisc's activity would be regularly evaluated by the Member
States;
– Eurofisc's tasks would be initially to provide a multilateral early
warning mechanism for combating VAT fraud, and to coordinate
the exchange of information and the work of participating Member
States in acting on warnings received.
5. Some delegations felt that officials in the Eurofisc network should be
able to initiate, accept or coordinate targeted multilateral checks. In the
longer term some delegations also wanted Eurofisc to develop a joint risk
analysis capacity for those Member States which were prepared to allow
access to their databases (the VIES system).
6. Therefore, the Council:
– APPROVES Eurofisc's guidelines;
– NOTES the Commission's intention to present a proposal in the
autumn of 2008 on the recasting of Regulation (EC) No
1798/2003 of 7 October 2003, and INVITES the Commission to
include in that proposal provisions to allow Eurofisc to be estab-
lished in the near future in accordance with those guidelines, while
respecting the instruments of administrative cooperation men-
tioned in the Regulation;
– NOTES the willingness of the Commission to examine the possi-
bility of Member States entrusting additional tasks to Eurofisc."