EU Agrees on Instrument to Support Reforms for Sustainable Recovery
As part of the measures to foster recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, EU announced its support for the reform efforts of member states to stimulate growth and put their economies back on track. In this context, the EU ambassadors endorsed the position of the European Council on establishing a "technical support instrument," that will contribute to mainstreaming climate actions and to the achievement of an overall target of the EU budget expenditures supporting climate objectives. The technical support instrument is also meant to complement the EC proposal for a recovery and resilience facility that will provide large-scale financial support for public investments and reforms to foster member states' recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. The instrument will support member states in the preparation and implementation of their recovery and resilience plans.
Member states have increasingly taken up technical support under the Structural Reform Support Program in the past; therefore, a technical support instrument should be established through a regulation, with a view to continuing to support member states in the implementation of reforms. Reflecting the European Green Deal as Europe’s growth strategy and the translation of EU’s commitments to implement the Paris Agreement and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, the technical support instrument will contribute to mainstreaming climate actions and to the achievement of an overall target of [25]% of the EU budget expenditures supporting climate objectives. Relevant actions should be identified during the instrument’s preparation and implementation and reassessed in the context of the relevant evaluations and review processes. This should also tackle broader environmental and social challenges in EU, including the protection of natural capital and the support to the circular economy and be in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The scope of the instrument includes financial-sector policies, such as those for the promotion of financial literacy, financial stability, access to finance and lending to the real economy and production, provision, and quality monitoring of data and statistics. It also covers policies for implementing the digital and the green transitions, e-government solutions, e-procurement, connectivity, data access and governance, and e-learning; the use of artificial-intelligence-based solutions, the environmental pillar of sustainable development and environmental protection, climate action; promoting the circular economy, energy and resource efficiency, and renewable energy sources; achieving energy diversification; and ensuring energy security.
The agreed upon position will serve as the basis for the Presidency in its negotiations with the European Parliament that are set to start as soon as possible. However, it does yet not cover the budgetary aspects of the draft regulation since an agreement on the overall next Multiannual Financial Framework was achieved only yesterday. The proposed technical support instrument is a successor to the structural reform support program. On the basis of this partial negotiating mandate, the Presidency will start negotiations with the Parliament as soon as the Parliament has adopted its position.
Related Links
Keywords: Europe, EU, Banking, Insurance, Securities, ESG, Climate Change Risk, COVID-19, Financial Stability, European Green Deal, Paris Agreement, EC, European Council
Featured Experts
Victor Calanog, Ph.D.
Leading economist; commercial real estate; performance forecasting, econometric infrastructure; data modeling; credit risk modeling; portfolio assessment; custom commercial real estate analysis; thought leader.
Michael Denton, PhD, PE
Dr. Denton provides industry leadership in the quantification of sustainability issues, climate risk, trade credit and emerging lending risks. His deep foundations in market and credit risk provide critical perspectives on how climate/sustainability risks can be measured, communicated and used to drive commercial opportunities, policy, strategy, and compliance. He supports corporate clients and financial institutions in leveraging Moody’s tools and capabilities to improve decision-making and compliance capabilities, with particular focus on the energy, agriculture and physical commodities industries.
James Partridge
Credit analytics expert helping clients understand, develop, and implement credit models for origination, monitoring, and regulatory reporting.
Related Articles
CFPB Finalizes Rule on Small Business Lending Data Collection
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a final rule that sets out data collection requirements on small business lending, under section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act.
BCBS to Consult on Pillar 3 Climate Risk Disclosures by End of 2023
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) published a summary of the recent Basel Committee (BCBS) meetings.
FINMA Approves Merger of Credit Suisse and UBS
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has approved the takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS.
BOE Sets Out Its Thinking on Regulatory Capital and Climate Risks
The Bank of England (BOE) published a working paper that aims to understand the climate-related disclosures of UK financial institutions.
US Congress Report Examines Data Privacy and Cybersecurity Regulations
The U.S. Congressional Research Service published a report on banking, data privacy, and cybersecurity regulation.
OSFI Finalizes on Climate Risk Guideline, Issues Other Updates
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) is seeking comments, until May 31, 2023, on the draft guideline on culture and behavior risk, with final guideline expected by the end of 2023.
EU to Conduct One-Off Scenario Analysis to Assess Transition Risk
The European authorities recently made multiple announcements that impact the banking sector.
APRA Assesses Macro-Prudential Policy Settings, Issues Other Updates
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) published an information paper that assesses its macro-prudential policy settings aimed at promoting stability at a systemic level.
BIS Paper Examines Impact of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on Lending
BIS issued a paper that investigates the effect of the greenhouse gas, or GHG, emissions of firms on bank loans using bank–firm matched data of Japanese listed firms from 2006 to 2018.
HMT Mulls Alignment of Ring-Fencing and Resolution Regimes for Banks
The HM Treasury (HMT) is seeking evidence, until May 07, 2023, on practicalities of aligning the ring-fencing and the banking resolution regimes for banks.
