Month in Brussels - Graham Bishop's Personal Overview of May 2013

• The process of deepening economic – and thus political – integration is proceeding apace as Country-Specific economic policy recommendations are published and banking union moves to the end-game.

• Depositor preferment seems to be increasingly accepted by Europe's politicians but, inevitably, there will be profound structural changes in the nature of Europe’s financial system. Have the EU institutions really thought this through?

• France and Germany are speaking to each other again…and jointly offering 'direct bank recap' once BRR and DGS Directives are finalised.

• Tax is one of the most sensitive areas of EU policy yet suddenly action is happening in several areas – perhaps another sign of the increasingly close political cooperation, even if driven by economic necessity. FTT might have been held out as one of the success stories except that support seems to be dwindling rapidly.

Graham Bishop

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© Copyright Graham Bishop, 3rd June 2013