EU Update
July 2007
Eurosif lobbying activities
Eurosif submits response to Commission’s consultation on the EU Green Paper on Retail Financial Services
In its response, Eurosif describes the evolving trends in Sustainable Investment. Within sustainable investment, Eurosif highlights the emergence of two genres – “Responsible Investment” and “Socially Responsible Investment” – both of which Eurosif invites the EC to encourage. The paper then addresses some of the Commission’s questions and invites the Commission to consider a number of points, some of which are included below:
- The introduction of an EU wide “Statement of Investment Principles (SIPs)” for investment funds, as suggested in the European Parliament resolution of March 13 2007 on Corporate Social Responsibility (2006/2133(INI)) would ensure that Pension Fund trustees have to report on how they are taking those ESG risks into consideration. Ownership and power imply responsibility from investors and trustees.
- The Commission should encourage a greater choice of investment options for consumers, particularly by encouraging the development of SRI options in pension plans.
- Eurosif believes that the Commission should develop an optional legal EU-wide regime (“28th regime”) for savings.
- For sustainable investment to be better understood, the Commission should consider ways to improve consumers’ financial literacy and capability. Eurosif wishes to put forward as an example the Eurosif Transparency Guidelines for the Retail SRI fund sector that it launched in November 2004, with the support of the Commission (DG EMPL). The guiding principle is that signatories to the guidelines should be open and honest and disclose accurate, adequate and timely information to enable stakeholders, in particular consumers, to understand the SRI policies and practices relating to the fund.
Eurosif’s response will be published on the Commission’s web site in August. Eurosif will continue to monitor the progress of the Commission’s consultation and plan to attend the public hearing held in Brussels on September 19, 2007.
For more information please contact Marion de Marcillac.
Eurosif Response to Third Consultation on Shareholders' Rights
Eurosif sent a submission to the DG Internal Market’s Third Consultation on “Fostering an appropriate regime for shareholders’ rights”. In its response Eurosif addressed the following points:
- Language of meeting documents
- Chain of intermediaries
- Management companies of investment schemes
Eurosif is pleased with the direction taken thus far and encourages the EC to continue in its efforts to clarify the role of intermediaries in the voting process and better enable shareholder democracy in the European Union.
For more information please contact Marion de Marcillac.
Eurosif to be part of EU Work Group in the Fall
Eurosif has been invited to participate in an Expert Group being led by the DG Enterprise that will explore the development of sustainability within the seed capital and early investment stage of private equity. More details to follow in the Fall.
EU News
Corporate governance: Commission reports on application of EU recommendations on directors' pay and independence
The European Commission has published two reports on Member States' application of EU recommendations on company directors' pay and independence. Both reports conclude that the application of corporate governance standards has improved, but some weaknesses remain. The report on directors' remuneration shows that transparency standards are widely followed, but in some Member States it is still not recommended that shareholders vote on this issue. The report on the role of independent non-executive directors finds that there is a real progress in improving governance standards in this field, but some of the recommended standards have not been followed in all Member States.
Cross-border pensions transfer to be made easier
Companies will have to carry the main burden of transferring supplementary pension schemes that workers join to complement their social-security retirement benefits, according to a Directive approved by Parliament on June 20th. Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner Vladimír Špidla said that he was disappointed at the removal of provisions to assist the transfer of pensions. However he welcomed what he called "the report's clear commitment to setting minimum standards for the access to pension rights and fair treatment of dormant rights". "The Commission had made a much more ambitious proposal which would have enabled workers to enjoy true portability of their pensions," Špidla said, adding: "I still believe that the Parliament's report is a real step in the right direction."
Climate change: Europe must take adaptation measures to lessen impacts of current and future warming
Climate change poses a double challenge: Europe must not only make deep cuts in its greenhouse gas emissions but also take measures to adapt to current and future climate change in order to lessen the adverse impacts of global warming on people, the economy and the environment. This is the key message of a Green Paper published by the European Commission at the end of June, which sets out options for EU action to help the process of adaptation to climate change across Europe.
