EU Insight, 26 June 2020

CO-LEGISLATORS REACH DEAL ON CLEARING HOUSES’ RECOVERY AND RESOLUTION PLANS

The European Parliament and the Council reached an interinstitutional agreement on the central counterparties (CCP) recovery and resolution Regulation. The deal provides a harmonised risk management system, designed to enable CCPs in difficulty to continue clearing services while minimising the risk that taxpayers might have to bail them out. Due to the growing value and volume of the transactions CCPs handle in shouldering the risks of a transaction party default, they have in recent years become systemically important and are often considered “too big to fail”. The co-legislators still need to formally adopt the agreement once ongoing technical work in finalised.

INTERINSTITUTIONAL AGREEMENT EXPANDS COLLECTIVE REDRESS FRAMEWORK IN EU

This week, EU co-legislators struck a political deal on the Collective Redress Directive. The proposal was part of the 2018 New Deal for Consumers and is meant to replace the Injunctions Directive and to allow for a more efficient cross-border protection of consumer interests. The Directive expands the scope of the previous Directive and establishes a framework for collective redress both domestically and cross-border, laying out mandatory criteria for qualified entities that may pursue the latter on behalf of consumers. Pending final endorsement by the Council and European Parliament, the Directive will likely be published in the Official Journal of the EU in the second half of July.

EUROPEAN AND CHINESE LEADERS HELD 22^ND EU-CHINA SUMMIT

The 22^nd EU-China Summit was held virtually on 22 June. During the conference, European and Chinese leaders discussed a broad range of topics including bilateral relations, regional and international issues, the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recovery, international trade, digitalisation, and climate change. During such discussions, the EU notably urged China to make progress in the resolution of several market access and regulatory issues, including on addressing existing market access asymmetries. The EU also called on China to assume greater responsibility on the global stage and raised concerns on the deteriorating human rights situation in China.

COUNCIL ADOPTS CONCLUSIONS ON EU-UK RELATIONS WITH NO MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS

EU Ambassadors adopted Council Conclusions on the EU-UK relations, noting the limited progress made so far on the negotiations on the future relationship. They also stressed that the EU is determined to establish a close partnership with the UK after Brexit and, therefore, welcomes the plans agreed by the Chief Negotiators to intensify the negotiation process with the aim to reach an agreement before the end of the year. Lastly, the Council stresses that it will pay close attention to the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement, with specific focus on citizens’ rights, and calls on the Member states to prepare at all levels for all possible outcomes.

AGREEMENT ON THE COUNCIL’S POSITION ON THE CONFERENCE ON THE FUTURE OF EUROPE

EU Member States reached a common position on their approach to the Conference on the Future of Europe, which is expected to be launched in autumn of this year. Some of the Council’s proposals for the organisation of the conference include focusing discussions on a broad set of topics to allow sufficient scope for all participants to provide input. However, unlike the European Parliament, the Council is not in favour of discussing Treaty reforms as part of the conference. Regarding governance, the Council suggests that the conference be chaired by an independent, eminent European personality selected by the three EU institutions.

COMING UP NEXT WEEK

• 29 June: Video conference of agriculture and fisheries ministers. On the agenda: Sustainable fishing, quotas for fishing opportunities, CAP reform.
• 30 June: Republic of Korea-EU leaders’ video conference meeting. On the agenda: COVID-19 outbreak, EU-Korea strategic partnership.
• 30 June: Supporting the future of Syria and the region – Brussels IV Conference.

 Karl Isaksson, Managing Partner Brussels, Kreab