Barnier: to create “bank-funded schemes””It is not acceptable that taxpayers should continue to bear the heavy cost of rescuing the banking sector”. According to the ‘polluter pays’ principle’, “We need to build a system which ensures that the financial sector will pay the cost of banking crises in the future”. A few days ago Internal Market and Services Commissioner Michel Barnier Michel Barnier, submitted a document for the creation of a “network of bank-funded schemes” to prevent financial instability and protect depositors in case of financial market instability”. It is a new step of the overall strategy that EU is seeking to accomplish with Member States to prevent and curb economic crises. “I believe that banks should be asked to contribute to a fund designed to manage bank failure, protect financial stability and limit contagion – but which is not a bail-out fund”, the Commissioner said. The Commission believes that “a way to achieve this is by introducing requirement for Member States to establish funds according to common rules into which banks are required to pay a levy. The funds would not be used for bailing out or rescuing banks, but only to ensure that a bank’s failure is managed in an orderly way and does not destabilise the financial system”. The Commission will present its ideas to the European Council of June 17 and at the G20 in Toronto next June 26-27. EU-USA: combating terrorism and personal data protection Reaching personal data protection agreement between the European Union and the United States when cooperating to fight terrorism or crime: this is the object of the Commission’s negotiating mandate on behalf of the EU. Since 11 September 2001 and subsequent terrorist attacks in Europe, the EU and US have stepped up police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. However, they still have “different approaches in protecting data, leading to some controversy in the past when negotiating information exchange agreements” (such as the Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme, so-called SWIFT agreement,). The purpose of the proposal submitted by the Commission May 26 “is to overcome these differences”, said Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Viviane Reding. Indeed, the Commission intends “to ensure a high level of protection of personal information like passenger data or financial information that is transferred as part of transatlantic cooperation in criminal matters”. The agreement would enhance the right of citizens to access, rectify or delete data, where appropriate”. EU citizens would receive a right to seek judicial redress in the US if their data is unlawfully processed.” The Council must approve the Commission’s negotiating mandate before talks can begin while the European Parliament will be fully informed at all stages of the negotiations and will have to give its consent to the outcome of the negotiations”.A European law to protect disabled peopleNumerous associations, NGOs, parties, local and supranational groups have been for the resumption of talks on the European anti-discrimination directive proposed by the Commission in July 2008. The legislative proposal is set to ensure minimum protection standards against discrimination for reasons tied to nationality, religious belief, physical health and sexual orientation was blocked as a result of disagreements in Council talks among Member State representatives. The Petitions Committee – as stated on the official website www.europarl.europa.eu – “decided to table an oral question to European governments asking them to “unblock” the anti-discrimination directive and push it forward as soon as possible.” In the webpage it is reminded that around 50 million disabled, non self-sufficient senior citizens or people with serious physical or mental disabilities are awaiting the enforcement of the directive. However a specific law to protect the disabled is being called for. “An insurance company refusing to pay unemployment benefits to a disabled person, an autistic boy excluded from a school and a public bus which is not accessible with a wheelchair. Those were three of the breaches of disabled people rights that were discussed by Parliament’s Petitions Committee”. “Different faces of the same reality, denouncing discriminatory behaviours towards the disabled” that the EU anti-discrimination directive only cannot fully address. A specific EU law on the rights of people with disabilities is thus demanded.
