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Germany, Greece and Malta see deficit action dropped
- EU finance ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday (5 June) agreed to drop action begun against Germany, Greece and Malta when their public deficits had exceeded the limit of 3% of gross domestic product stipulated in the EU Stability and Growth Pact. Legal action is still pending against the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and the UK.
Malta and Cyprus to join eurozone
- EU finance ministers on Tuesday backed plans to let Malta and Cyprus into the eurozone on 1 January 2008. The European Commission had said last month that both countries met the economic criteria for adoption of the euro. A formal decision will be taken at a meeting of EU leaders later this month (21-22 June).
McCreevy shifts corporate governance stance
- Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy on Monday (4 June) presented a report on corporate governance showing that control-enhancing mechanisms such as ceilings on voting rights and multiple-voting rights do not have negative effects on management and do not impede cross-border integration of financial markets. The study, which will influence policymaking on corporate governance, marks a shift from McCreevy’s previous support for the one-share, one-vote principle.
Holiday deal gets green light
- The European Commission on Monday approved a merger between German travel group TUI and First Choice, a UK travel services firm. Under conditions set for the merger, TUI would have to sell the Irish operation Budget Travel. The decision on the tie-up follows closely approval of Thomas Cook’s bid for rival MyTravel. The two mergers would reduce the number of major market players from four to two.
Pensions impasse
- Employment ministers on Thursday (31 May) were unable to reach a compromise agreement on a draft law that attempts to make it easier for workers to transfer their pension rights across borders. The Commission’s proposals were significantly altered in the European Parliament after complaints from industry about the financial burden that the measures would impose and were further altered by the German presidency. The text is expected to go into second reading after a vote by all MEPs on 19 June.
EU Socialists and US democrats call for hedge fund rules
- EU Socialists and US democrats teamed up on Monday to call for tighter hedge-fund regulation ahead of meeting of the Group of Eight leading industrialised nations in Heiligendamm, Germany, yesterday (6 June). The German government has been leading the drive at EU and international level for more transparency and greater regulatory control of the sector.
When it comes to meeting the conditions for joining the single currency "rules is rules". This was the uncompromising message dished out last week (1 June) at the Economic Forum organised by the European Commission’s department for economic and financial affairs by, among others, Regional Affairs Commissioner Danuta Hübner and Klaus Regling, director-general for economic and financial affairs.
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