Recovery and Resilience Facility; Non-performing loans; Relaunching the economy in Europe; Strengthening the Economic and Monetary Union; Addressing new challenges, including the green and digital transitions,
Recovery and Resilience Facility
Ministers exchanged views on the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
The Presidency outlined the main elements of the agreement with the
European Parliament and the next steps. The Commission provided
horizontal information about the preparation of the national plans and
ministers shared their experiences with the preparations.
The European Parliament is due to vote on the regulation establishing
the facility at its February plenary session, prior to the formal
adoption by the Council. The facility is expected to enter into force in
the second half of February, after which member states can start
submitting their recovery and resilience plans officially.
The Recovery and Resilience Facility is a core element of
Europeʼs response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Working for its swift and
smooth implementation is therefore a top priority for the Portuguese
presidency. We will spare no efforts during our term to support the
process of preparation and approval of the national recovery and
resilience plans, which are key to Europeʼs economic recovery and
inclusive green and digital transitions.
João Leão, Portugalʼs Minister of State for Finance (photo: Portuguese government)
Non-performing loans
The Commission presented its communication on tackling non-performing loans (NPLs) in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ministers held a policy debate on the action plan.
Non-performing loans are bank loans that are more than 90 days
past-due or are unlikely to be repaid in full without requiring the sale
of collateral. The COVID-19 crisis is expected to lead to an increase
in their ratios. In its new communication, which builds on the action
plan agreed by the Council in 2017, the Commission proposes to address
the issue through a series of actions and measures with four main goals:
- Further developing secondary markets for distressed assets
- Converging insolvency frameworks across the EU
- Supporting the establishment and cooperation of national asset management companies
- Implementing precautionary measures
During the debate, ministers agreed on the need to complete the
implementation of measures outstanding from the 2017 action plan. The
presidency highlighted its aim to progress quickly with the legislative
proposals regarding secondary markets for NPLs and accelerated
extrajudicial collateral enforcement, once the European Parliament was
ready.
Work will continue to build a common view in other areas.
Presidency programme
The Portuguese presidency presented its priorities for economic and
financial affairs for the duration of its term, which runs from January
to June 2021.
In the field of economic and financial affairs, the priorities will be pursued across three main areas:
-
Relaunching the economy in Europe, where the
Presidency’s top priority will be the implementation of the Recovery and
Resilience Facility. It will also play an active role in adapting the
European Semester to the recovery and move forward with initiatives
related to non-performing loans.
- Strengthening the Economic and Monetary Union,
where the Presidency will take forward discussions on the Banking Union
initiatives, in particular the establishment of a European deposit
insurance scheme, and on deepening the Capital Markets Union. In
addition, it plans to start discussions on amendments to the Capital
Requirements Directive and Regulation, as well as the legislative
proposals on preventing money laundering and terrorist financing.
-
Addressing new challenges, including the green and digital transitions,
where the focus will be on advancing with the Digital Finance Package,
working on a Renewed Sustainable Finance Strategy and continuing work on
the tax challenges related to the digital economy. The Presidency will
also start discussions on the introduction of new own resources and
follow-up on the Customs Union action plan.
Other items
As part of the 2021 European Semester exercise,
ministers exchanged views on the conclusions on the 2021 alert mechanism
report and the draft recommendation on the economic policy of the euro
area. The documents are due to be approved after the video conference,
either at a physical Council meeting or by written procedure. Following
its approval, the euro area recommendation will be transmitted to the
European Council in March for endorsement.
Ministers took stock of the work on legislative proposals in the field of financial services.
The Presidency highlighted the upcoming work on the proposals
concerning secondary markets for non-performing loans, the European
deposit insurance scheme, the motor insurance directive and the FinTech
package.
The President of the European Investment Bank, Werner Hoyer, presented the main findings of the latest EIB Investment Survey.
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