EU Council Meeting: Economic and Financial Affairs

July 13, 2012

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The Council of the EU has published a press release regarding the meeting of the EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) comprising EU member states’ Ministers for Finance convened in Brussels on 10 July 2012. Top of the agenda were the subjects of European banking union and bank recovery and resolution.

Single European Banking Supervisor

ECOFIN noted that the EU Commission are scheduled to present proposals for a single European banking supervisor in the autumn of 2012.

Bank Recovery and Resolution

ECOFIN discussed the EU Commission’s proposal for a directive establishing a recovery and resolution framework which was published on 6 June 2012. This seeks to provide supervisory authorities with the power to ‘tackle bank crises pre-emptively and to resolve any financial institutions in an orderly manner.’ The goal is for the EU Council to reach consensus on a general approach to achieving these ends by December, allowing for subsequent negotiations with the Parliament, with a view to adoption of the directive at first reading.