The Irish Presidency is becoming the Trojan Horse of the EU Council and the Commission in their quest to push the European Parliament into an agreement over the funding of the Union’s budgets from 2012 up to 2020. The legislative has rejected last week the proposal of the Ecofin Council for parallel negotiations for everything […]Irish Presidency: Not a euro more for EU budgets
May 22, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The Irish Presidency is becoming the Trojan Horse of the EU Council and the Commission in their quest to push the European Parliament into an agreement over the funding of the Union’s budgets from 2012 up to 2020. The legislative has rejected last week the proposal of the Ecofin Council for parallel negotiations for everything […]EU: Tax evasion and fraud flourish under political protection
May 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment
It is a disgrace for the European Union’s political elite to consciously block the internal exchange of information between the member states authorities and banks on matters related to tax evasion and fraud. This is exactly what the 27 EU minister of Finance did yesterday in the Ecofin Council in Brussels. This unbelievable political decision […]Germany and France only care about keeping their borrowing cheap
April 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The two days of unofficial meetings of the Ecofin and the Eurogroup councils staged in the historic scenery of the Dublin Castle completely missed their targets. For one thing today’s main story, by Suzan A. Kane, on the European Sting proves that the much-advertised target to arrest the €1 trillion tax evasion in the EU […]EU fight against tax-evasion and money laundering blocked by Britain
April 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The informal Ecofin and Eurogroup councils that took place in the Dublin Castle this weekend had only one victim; the bank depositors. Tax evaders got away, with Algirdas Šemeta the EU Commissioner responsible for Taxation and Anti-Fraud, running after them brandishing only his “appetite for progress and action”. In reality no real progress or action […]Eurozone governed by an obscure body and gray procedures
March 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The Eurogroup, the crucial European decision-making body, regrouping the 17 EU ministers of Finance of the countries using the euro, which has led the south of Europe to the worst economic recession after WWII and introduced the haircut on bank deposits, the until this week most secure financial asset, is an informal forum, who’s decisions […]A Brussels antithesis reveals where the EU is heading
March 6, 2013 by 1 Comment
Yesterday in the Ecofin Council in Brussels, a handful of politicians from EU’s member states, away from their constituencies, left to be ‘guided’ by the European Commission in mortgaging to the EU’ bureaucracy their counties’ financial sovereignty, by approving the “two pack” directives. On the same occasion they created the clan of the ‘undead’ banks […]The Ecofin Council creates officially the clan of ‘undead’ banks
March 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Today 5 March 2013, in Brussels, without much publicity the Economic and Financial Affairs Council of the European Union, known as the Ecofin Council, is expected to discuss, inter alia, the new draft rules on bank capital requirements (“CRD 4”), including future rules on bankers’ bonuses. Those issues go in pair, in a way that […]Financial Transaction Tax: More money for future bank bailouts?
February 15, 2013 by 3 Comments
The European Commission announced today the details of the implementation of the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), under the procedure of the enhanced cooperation. It must be noted that such a procedure may be launched at the request of at least nine EU member states. Incidentally, the eleven member states actually wishing to introduce a financial […]Why Commissioner Rehn wants us all to work more for less
February 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Yesterday Commissioner Olli Rehn speaking at the regular monthly meeting of the European Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin), which regroups the 27 EU ministers of Finance, made a completely wrong evaluation of Eurozone’s economy present status, despite some quite superficial references to the real causes of the ongoing crisis. Let’s see all that in details. His […]Cyprus banks under scrutiny
January 21, 2013 by 1 Comment
Eurozone’s support to Cyprus is not on the agenda of todays’ Eurogroup, the council of the 17 Eurozone ministers of Finance, nor will this issue be discussed in tomorrows’ Ecofin, the council of the 27 EU economic ministers. This is a clear sign that there will not be any decision on this problem until the […]Capital transaction tax on Ecofin table
January 19, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Next Tuesday 22 January, the Economic and Finance Ministers Council (ECOFIN) is expected to meet in Brussels. As a main item in its agenda has being tabled the Financial Transactions Tax (FTT). So far only 11 EU member states out of the 27 have agreed to go through with it. The 11 participating EU countries are […]
