Legislators strike deal on a new standard to fight greenwashing in the bond markets

This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. EU negotiators on Tuesday struck a deal creating the first best in class standard for the issuing of green bonds. The “European Green Bonds Standard” (EUGBS), which companies issuing a bond can choose to comply with, will primarily enable investors to orient their investments […]

EU elections: The louder the threats and the doomsaying the heavier the weight of the vote

All mainstream political leaders of Europe in the socialist camp, the liberals and the center-right parties, invariably exorcise nationalism and populism, as the gravest threats to the EU project. They are quite right to do so. It’s not only the future of the EU which is at stake. Nationalism and populism already threaten the very […]

Is it impossible to place the banks under control?

Within the next few weeks the European Commission is expected to announce a proposal for a structural reform in the banking sector. The declared target is to make sure “that banks do not remain or become too-big, too-complex or too-interconnected to fail”. In announcing its intentions on this grandiose plan, the EU’s executive arm states […]

EU to spend €135.5 billion in 2014 or 6.5% less than this year

The European Parliament might not get it all from the Council but it managed to bring the 2014 EU budget payments limit at €135.5 billion or €500 million more than the initial Council’s position. Commitments were set at €142.6bn that is in line with the Commission’s budget proposal. The initial Council’s position was to restrict […]