Eurosystem repo facility for central banks (EUREP) introduced as precautionary backstop to address pandemic-related euro liquidity needs outside euro area
EUREP to allow broad set of central banks to borrow euro against euro-denominated debt issued by euro area central governments and supranational institutions
New facility to be available until June 2021
In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) decided to set up a new backstop facility, called the Eurosystem repo facility for central banks (EUREP), to provide precautionary euro repo lines to central banks outside the euro area. EUREP addresses possible euro liquidity needs in case of market dysfunction resulting from the COVID-19 shock that might adversely impact the smooth transmission of ECB monetary policy.
Under EUREP, the Eurosystem will provide euro liquidity to a broad set of central banks outside the euro area against adequate collateral, consisting of euro-denominated marketable debt securities issued by euro area central governments and supranational institutions.
EUREP complements the ECB’s bilateral swap and repo lines and reflects the importance of the euro in global financial markets.
EUREP will be available until the end of June 2021.
Compliments of the ECB.

The Commission adopted today a report on the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) which reveals that, while the EU’s framework for marine environmental protection is one of the most comprehensive and ambitious worldwide, persistent challenges remain, such as excess nutrients, underwater noise, plastic litter, and other types of pollution as well as unsustainable fishing. This message is further reinforced in the European Environment Agency’s “Marine Messages II” also published today.

“This report and the accompanying EEA Marine Messages confirm that we need to step up action to protect our seas and oceans. We have made progress, for example in the field of sustainable fisheries, but we need additional efforts and stop the irresponsible pollution of our seas. I note with regret that EU Member States will not achieve the Good Environmental Status they were legally required to achieve across all their marine waters by 2020 and that, for some marine regions, efforts required are substantial. The Commission will launch a review of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, to see what has worked and what has no’t, and act upon the shortcomings identified. Protecting our seas and oceans is an integral part of the European Green Deal, and it is the precondition for our fishermen and fisherwomen to provide us with healthy and sustainable seafood also in the future and therefore deserves our continued attention across policy areas”.Virginijus Sinkevičius, Commissioner in charge of the Environment, Fisheries and Oceans

“Our seas and marine ecosystems are suffering as a result of years of severe over-exploitation and neglect. We may soon reach a point of no return, but, as our report confirms, we still have a chance to restore our marine ecosystems if we act decisively and coherently and strike a sustainable balance between the way we use of seas and our impact on the marine environment. In this context, the new EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2030 and other elements of the European Green Deal bring must guide urgent and coherent action for protection and restoration to be underway.”Hans Bruyninckx, Executive Director of the European Environment Agency

The MSFD report paints a mixed picture of the state of Europe’s seas. Almost half of Europe’s coastal waters are subject to intense eutrophication. Although EU rules regulating chemicals have led to a reduction in contaminants, there has been an increased accumulation of plastics and plastic chemical residues in most of the marine species. Thanks to the EU’s common fisheries policy, nearly all landings in the North-East Atlantic come from healthy stocks. This is however not yet the case in the Mediterranean, for which more efforts are needed.
The EEA’s Marine Messages II report, which feeds into the Commission’s review, shows that historic and, in some cases, current use of our seas is taking its toll resulting in changes in the composition of marine species and habitats to changes in the seas’ overall physical and chemical make-up. It suggests solutions that can help the EU achieve its goal of clean, healthy and productive seas, mainly through ecosystem-based management. It also adds that there are signs of marine ecosystem recovery in some areas as a result of significant, often decade-long, efforts to reduce certain impacts like those caused by contaminants, eutrophication, and overfishing.
Background
The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) has provided a push towards a better understanding of the pressures and impacts of human activities on the sea, and their implications for marine biodiversity, their habitats, and the ecosystems they sustain. The knowledge gained from implementing this Directive was, for example, a driving force leading to the adoption of the Single Use Plastics Directive. It has led to increased cooperation among littoral Member States of the four European sea regions, as well as across marine regions. As a result non-EU Member States also aim to achieve good environmental status or its equivalent.
The Directive requires that Member States set up regionally-coordinated strategies in order to achieve clean, healthy and productive seas. This overarching goal, referred to as “Good Environmental Status”, is determined over a number of so-called ‘descriptors’ (e.g. biodiversity, fisheries, eutrophication, contaminants, litter, underwater noise). It is a key piece of legislation that protects and preserves marine biodiversity and its habitats, it is therefore an important tool to implement the 2030 Biodiversity and Farm to Fork Strategies and a major contributor to achieving the Zero-Pollution ambition at sea. It is also closely linked to the upcoming Strategies for Sustainable Chemicals and Smart and Sustainable Transport.
The MSFD must be reviewed by mid-2023 and where necessary, amendments will be proposed. The review will further analyse the achievements and challenges to environmental protection of European Seas in accordance with the Commission’s better regulation agenda and will be carried out in parallel with a review of the Common Fisheries Policy.
For More Information
Europe’s oceans, seas and coasts
Compliments of the European Commission.

The European innovation scoreboard provides a comparative analysis of innovation performance in EU countries, other European countries, and regional neighbours. It assesses relative strengths and weaknesses of national innovation systems and helps countries identify areas they need to address. The European innovation scoreboard 2020 was released on 23 June 2020.
European innovation scoreboard 2020
The 2020 edition of the innovation scoreboard highlights that the EU’s innovation performance continues to increase at a steady pace, with growing convergence between EU countries. On average, the innovation performance of the EU has increased by 8.9% since 2012. Performance increased in 24 EU countries since 2012, with the biggest increases in Lithuania, Malta, Latvia, Portugal and Greece.
Sweden continues to be the EU innovation leader, followed by Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands. This year Luxembourg (previously a strong innovator) joins the innovation leaders, while Portugal (previously a moderate innovator) joins the group of strong innovators.
This year’s scoreboard is marked by the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU. This has had a small impact on the EU’s average innovation performance, but the relative performance of EU countries in relation to EU’s global performance remains unaffected.
At the global level, the EU has surpassed the United States for the second time. The EU continues to have a performance lead over the United States, China, Brazil, Russia, South Africa, and India. Since 2012, the EU’s performance gap with South Korea, Australia and Japan has increased, while the EU’s performance lead over the United States, China, Brazil, Russia and South Africa has decreased.
The EIS 2020 applies the same methodology as last year’s edition. However, results should not be compared across editions due to data revisions. Time series of the results are presented in the current edition which compare tracked performance since 2012 based on the most recent data.
Access the FULL innovation scoreboard here
Compliments of the European Commission.

Together with our members we are creating a Video series of first-hand accounts of the Pandemic’s impact, both personally & professionally.

We invite you to join us today for a first-hand look at the impact of the global shutdown following the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak – Today we are featuring Carlota Cenalmor, Permanent Representative of the European Investment Bank [EIB] a Member of the EACCNY.
The questions we asked our members for this series are:1) What are some challenges you, personally and your organization have faced?2) What are some of the most surprising (positive, innovative) responses/changes you have witnessed?3) How will this experience change us going forward, as a society and in terms of how we do business?

EACCNY has its finger on the pulse of how this worldwide pandemic is effecting companies and organizations on both sides of the Atlantic. EACC is where Americans & Europeans connect to do business.
Stay tuned for more on this series! We hope you enjoy these short vignettes our members and friends of the EACC created to share their experience.

Today, just over two years after its entry into application, the European Commission published an evaluation report on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The report shows the GDPR has met most of its objectives, in particular by offering citizens a strong set of enforceable rights and by creating a new European system of governance and enforcement. The GDPR proved to be flexible to support digital solutions in unforeseen circumstances such as the Covid-19 crisis. The report also concludes that harmonisation across the Member States is increasing, although there is a certain level of fragmentation that must be continually monitored. It also finds that businesses are developing a compliance culture and increasingly use strong data protection as a competitive advantage. The report contains a list of actions to facilitate further the application of the GDPR for all stakeholders, especially for Small and Medium Sized companies, to promote and further develop a truly European data protection culture and vigorous enforcement.
Věra Jourová, Vice-President for Values and Transparency, said: “Europe’s data protection regime has become a compass to guide us through the human-centric digital transition and is an important pillar on which we are building other polices, such as data strategy or our approach to AI.The GDPR is the perfect example of how the European Union, based on a fundamental rights’ approach, empowers its citizens and gives businesses opportunities to make the most of the digital revolution. But we all must continue the work to make GDPR live up to its full potential.”
Didier Reynders, Commissioner for Justice, said: “The GDPR has successfully met its objectives and has become a reference point across the world for countries that want to grant to their citizens a high level of protection. We can do better though, as today’s report shows. For example, we need more uniformity in the application of the rules across the Union: this is important for citizens and for businesses, especially SMEs. We need also to ensure that citizens can make full use of their rights. The Commission will monitor progress, in close cooperation with the European Data Protection Board and in its regular exchanges with Member States, so that the GDPR can deliver its full potential.”
Key findings of the GDPR review
Citizens are more empowered and aware of their rights: The GDPR enhances transparency and givesindividuals enforceable rights, such as the right of access, rectification, erasure, the right to object and the right to data portability. Today, 69% of the population above the age of 16 in the EU have heard about the GDPR and 71% of people heard about their national data protection authority, according to results published last week in a survey from the EU Fundamental Rights Agency. However, more can be done to help citizens exercise their rights, notably the right to data portability.
Data protection rules are fit for the digital age: The GDPR has empowered individuals to play a more active role in relation to what is happening with their data in the digital transition. It is also contributing to fostering trustworthy innovation, notably through a risk-based approach and principles such as data protection by design and by default.
Data protection authorities are making use of their stronger corrective powers: From warnings and reprimands to administrative fines, the GDPR provides national data protection authorities with the right tools to enforce the rules. However, they need to be adequately supported with the necessary human, technical and financial resources. Many Member States are doing this, with notable increases in budgetary and staff allocations. Overall, there has been a 42% increase in staff and 49% in budget for all national data protection authorities taken together in the EU between 2016 and 2019. However, there are still stark differences between Member States.
Data protection authorities are working together in the context of the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), but there is room for improvement: The GDPR established an innovative governance system which is designed to ensure a consistent and effective application of the GDPR through the so called ‘one stop shop’, which provides that a company processing data cross-border has only one data protection authority as interlocutor, namely the authority of the Member State where its main establishment is located. Between 25 May 2018 and 31 December 2019, 141 draft decisions were submitted through the ‘one-stop-shop’, 79 of which resulted in final decisions. However, more can be done to develop a truly common data protection culture. In particular, the handling of cross-border cases calls for a more efficient and harmonised approach and an effective use of all tools provided in the GDPR for the data protection authorities to cooperate.
Advice and guidelines by data protection authorities: The EDPB is issuing guidelines covering key aspects of the Regulation and emerging topics. Several data protection authorities have created new tools, including helplines for individuals and businesses, and toolkits for small and micro-enterprises. It is essential to ensure that guidance provided at national level is fully consistent with guidelines adopted by the EDPB.
Harnessing the full potential of international data transfers: Over the past two years, the Commission’s international engagement on free and safe data transfers has yielded important results. This includes Japan, with which the EU now shares the world’s largest area of free and safe data flows. The Commission will continue its work on adequacy, with its partners around the world. In addition and in cooperation with the EDPB, the Commission is looking at modernising other mechanisms for data transfers, including Standard Contractual Clauses, the most widely used data transfer tool. The EDPB is working on specific guidance on the use of certification and codes of conduct for transferring data outside of the EU, which need to be finalised as soon as possible. Given the European Court of Justice may provide clarifications in a judgment to be delivered on 16 July that could be relevant for certain elements of the adequacy standard, the Commission will report separately on the existing adequacy decisions after the Court of Justice has handed down its judgment.
Promoting international cooperation: Over the last two years, the Commission has stepped up bilateral, regional and multilateral dialogue, fostering a global culture of respect for privacy and convergence between different privacy systems to the benefit of citizens and businesses alike. The Commission is committed to continuing this work as part of its broader external action, for example, in the context of the Africa-EU Partnership and in its support for international initiatives, such as ‘Data Free Flow with Trust’. At a time when violations of privacy rules may affect large numbers of individuals simultaneously in several parts of the world, it is time to step up international cooperation between data protection enforcers. This is why the Commission will seek authorisation from the Council to open negotiations for the conclusion of mutual assistance and enforcement cooperation agreements with relevant third countries.
Aligning EU law with the Law Enforcement Directive
In addition, the Commission has today also published a Communication that identifies ten legal acts regulating processing of personal data by competent authorities for the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences which should be aligned with the Data Protection Law Enforcement Directive. The alignment will bring legal certainty and will clarify issues such as the purposes of the personal data processing by the competent authorities and what types of data may be subject to such processing.
Background
The GDPR foresees that the Commission reports on the evaluation and review of that Regulation, starting with a first report after two years of application and every four years thereafter.
The General Data Protection Regulation is a single set of rules of EU law on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data. It strengthens data protection safeguards, provides additional and stronger rights to individuals, increases transparency, and makes all those that handle personal data more accountable and responsible. It has equipped national data protection authorities with stronger and harmonised enforcement powers, and has established a new governance system among the data protection authorities. It also creates a level playing field for all companies operating in the EU market, regardless of where they are establish, ensures the free flow of data within the EU, facilitates safe international data transfers and has become a reference point at global level
As stipulated in Article 97(2) of the GDPR, the report published today covers in particular international transfers and ‘cooperation and consistency mechanism’, although the Commission has taken a broader approach in its review, in order to address issues raised by various actors during the last two years. These include contributions from the Council, the European Parliament, the EDPB, national data protection authorities and stakeholders.
For More Information
GDPR implementation report
Communication: EU acts to be aligned with the Law Enforcement Directive
Factsheet: GDPR- the fabric of a success story
Questions and Answers on the two-year report of the GDPR
GDPR web guidance – EU data protection rules
Infographic: What your company must do
European Coronavirus response: digital
Compliments of the European Commission.

The Commission has today proposed an EU budget of €166.7 billion for 2021, to be complemented by €211 billion in grants and approximately €133 billion in loans under Next Generation EU, the temporary recovery instrument aimed at mobilising investments and kick-starting the European economy. Together, the annual budget and Next Generation EU will mobilise significant investments in 2021 to address the immediate economic and social damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic, kick-start a sustainable recovery and protect and create jobs. The budget is also fully in line with the commitment to invest in the future in order to achieve a greener, more digital and resilient Europe.
Once adopted, this will be the first budget under the new 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework and the first annual budget proposed by President von der Leyen‘s Commission.

“In these extraordinary times, the European Commission’s proposal mobilises unprecedented support. The annual budget 2021 will help hundreds of thousands of people, companies and regions to overcome the crisis and emerge stronger than before. To make it happen, we need an agreement on the long-term budget and Next Generation EU – a deal that will send a signal of confidence throughout Europe.”
Commissioner Johannes Hahn, responsible for the EU Budget

The draft budget 2021, boosted by Next Generation EU, directs funds to where they can make the greatest difference, in line with the most crucial recovery needs of the EU Member States and our partners around the world.
The funding will help rebuild and modernise our Union, by fostering the green and digital transitions, creating jobs and strengthening Europe’s role in the world.
The budget reflects Europe’s priorities, which are relevant to ensure a sustainable recovery. To that end, the Commission is proposing to allocate:
€1.34 billion for Digital Europe programme for the Union’s cyber-defences and support the digital transition;
€3 billion for Connecting Europe Facility in an up-to-date, high-performance transport infrastructure to facilitate cross-border connections;
€575 million for the Single Market Programme, €36.2 million and €127 million respectively for the programmes supporting cooperation in the fields of taxation and customs;
€2.89 billion for Erasmus Plus to invest in young people, as well as €306 million for the cultural and creative sectors through Creative Europe;
€1.1 billion for the Asylum and Migration Fund and €1.0 billion for Integrated Border Management Fund to step up cooperation on external border management as well as migration and asylum policy;
€55.2 billion for the Common Agricultural Policy and €813 million for the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, for Europe’s farmers and fishermen, but also to strengthen the resilience of the agri-food and fisheries sectors and to provide the necessary scope for crisis management;
€228 million for the Internal Security Fund and €1.05 million for the European Defence Fund to support the European strategic autonomy and security;
€1.9 billion for pre-accession assistance, to support our neighbours, including in the Western Balkans;
In addition, large part of the funds will go to the priority actions identified in connection with Next Generation EU, including:
€131.5 billion of loans and approximately €133 billion of grants can be provided to Member States under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, as part of Next Generation EU;
€17.3 billion for Horizon Europe, to increase European support for health and climate-related research and innovation activities, of which €5 billion under Next Generation EU;
€10.13 billion for InvestEU, to invest in sustainable infrastructure, innovation and digitisation. Part of the money will be for the Strategic Investment Facility, to build strategic autonomy in vital supply chains at European level;
€8.28 billion for the Solvency Support Instrument as proposed by Next Generation EU, to address the solvency concerns of viable companies from all economic sectors;
€47.15 billion for cohesion policy, to be complemented by €42.45 billion under REACT-EU as proposed under Next Generation EU. The money will go for employment subsidies, short time work schemes and youth employment measures; liquidity and solvency for SMEs;
€9.47 billion for the Just Transition Fund to make sure the transition towards climate neutrality leaves nobody behind, of which €7.96 billion under Next Generation EU;
€619 million for rescEU, the Union civil protection mechanism, to make sure the Union has the capacity to respond to large-scale emergencies;
€1.19 billion for EU4Health, the new health programme, which will equip our Union against future health threats; of which €1.17 billion from Next Generation EU;
€15.36 billion for our external partners through the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) of which €3.29 billion under Next Generation EU;
€2.8 billion for humanitarian aid, of which €1.3 billion under Next Generation EU, for the growing humanitarian needs in the most vulnerable parts of the world.
The draft budget for 2021 is based on the Commission’s proposal for the EU’s next long-term budget as put forward on 27 May 2020. Once the European Parliament and the Council agree on the MFF 2021-2027, including Next Generation EU, the Commission will adapt its proposal for the 2021 budget accordingly through an amending letter.
It is essential that the draft budget is adopted swiftly so that hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs, researchers, farmers, and municipalities across Europe can start benefitting from the funds, thus investing in a better future for next generations.
Background
The draft 2021 EU budget includes expenditure under Next Generation EU that will be financed from borrowing at the capital markets and the expenditure covered by the appropriations under the long-term budget ceilings which are financed from own resources. For the latter, two amounts for each programme are proposed – commitments and payments. “Commitments” refers to the funding that can be agreed in contracts in a given year; “payments” to the money actually paid out. The proposed 2021 EU budget amounts to €166.7 billion in commitments (-9.7% compared to 2020) and €163.5 billion in payments (+0.8% compared to 2020). This is the first budget for EU 27, after the withdrawal of the UK and the end of the transition period.
For More Information
Q&A Draft Budget 2021
Draft budget 2021: legal text
Draft budget 2021 factsheet
MFF website
Website on the Commission’s coronavirus response
Press release on the next MFF and Next Generation EU (Commission’s proposal)
Q&A on the next MFF and Next Generation EU
MFF factsheets
Sectoral factsheets
Compliments of the European Commission.

The EU is temporarily adapting banking rules in order to maximise the capacity of banks to lend money and support households and businesses to recover from the COVID-19 crisis.
The banking package adopted today provides targeted and exceptional legislative changes to the capital requirements regulation (CRR 2). These changes will allow credit institutions to fully play their role in managing the economic shock that stems from the COVID-19 pandemic by fostering credit flows.

Thanks to the reforms conducted after the 2008 financial crisis, banks are capitalised and resilient enough to act as shock absorbers to businesses hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. But we are only at the very early stages of the recovery. It is our responsibility, as co-legislators, to ensure that banks have the necessary flexibility to continue providing the easiest access possible to funding for our citizens and companies.
Zdravko Marić, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Croatia

More specifically, the targeted amendments concern:
changes to the minimum amount of capital that banks are required to hold for non-performing loans (NPL) under the “prudential backstop”. In particular, the preferential treatment of NPLs guaranteed by export credit agencies will be extended to other public sector guarantors in the context of measures aimed at mitigating the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
the extension by two years of transitional arrangements related to the implementation of the international accounting standard IFRS 9. This will allow banks to mitigate the potential negative impact of a likely increase in banks’ provisions for expected credit losses.
the temporary reintroduction of a prudential filter for sovereign bond exposures which will mitigate the impact of the current volatility of financial markets on public debt.
additional flexibility for supervisors to mitigate negative effects of the extreme market volatility observed during the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular by excluding “overshootings” that occurred in 2020 and 2021 in banks’ internal models for market risks.
targeted changes to the calculation of the leverage ratio (i.e. the ratio between banks’ capital and its exposures) and a delay in the introduction of the leverage ratio buffer by one year to January 2023.
transitional arrangements for exposures to national governments and central banks denominated in a currency of another member state, in order to support funding options in non-euro member states mitigating the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
the earlier introduction of some capital relief measure for banks under CRR 2, most notably with respect to preferential treatment of certain loans backed by pensions or salaries and their SMEs and infrastructure loans, thus encouraging the credit flow to pensioners, employees, businesses and infrastructure investments.
The package of measures was adopted by the European Parliament on 19 June 2020. It will become applicable on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union and at the latest by end June 2020.
Amendments to the capital requirements regulation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic
Compliments of the European Council.

To address the severe disruptions created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU will allow more time to comply with rules on cross-border information reporting and exchanges and VAT for e-commerce.
Directive on administrative cooperation in the area of taxation (DAC)
The Council adopted an amendment to the DAC allowing member states an option to defer by up to 6 months the time limits for the filing and exchange of the following information:
automatic exchanges of information on financial accounts of which the beneficiaries are tax residents in another member state;
reportable cross-border tax planning arrangements.
The severe disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures to the activities of many financial institutions, tax advisers and tax authorities have hampered timely compliance with their reporting obligations.
Depending on the evolution of the pandemic, the amended directive also provides the possibility, under strict conditions, for the Council to extend the deferral period once, for a maximum of three further months.
Nevertheless, all relevant information will have to be reported to and exchanged by the tax authorities within the deferred deadlines.
Text of the amendment to the directive on administrative cooperation, as adopted on 24 June 2020
VAT e-commerce
Member states’ ambassadors to the EU reached a preliminary agreement on postponing by six months the application of the VAT regime applicable to online companies – as of 1 July 2021, instead of 1 January 2021.
The postponement should be formally adopted by the Council, without further discussion, once the text has undergone a legal and linguistic review.
VAT on electronic commerce: new rules adopted (press release, 5 December 2017)
Compliments of the European Council.

ECB and other major central banks to reduce frequency of 7-day US dollar operations from daily to three times per week, operations with 84-day maturity continue to be offered weekly
New frequency effective from 1 July 2020, to remain in place for as long as appropriate to support smooth functioning of US dollar funding markets
ECB and other major central banks stand ready to re-adjust provision of US dollar liquidity as warranted by market conditions
In view of the improvements in US dollar funding conditions and the low demand at recent 7-day maturity US dollar liquidity-providing operations, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank, in consultation with the Federal Reserve, have jointly decided to reduce the frequency of their 7-day operations from daily to three times per week. This operational change will be effective as of 1 July 2020. At the same time, these central banks will continue to hold weekly operations with an 84-day maturity.
These central banks stand ready to re-adjust the provision of US dollar liquidity as warranted by market conditions. The swap lines among these central banks are available standing facilities and serve as an important liquidity backstop to ease strains in global funding markets, thereby helping to mitigate the effects of such strains on the supply of credit to households and businesses, both domestically and abroad.
Compliments of the European Central Bank.