Report European Summit

On Thursday 18 and Friday 19 June the Heads of State and Government from the 27 member states of the European Union gathered in Brussels for the so-called European Council, which takes place at least twice a year. At the last European Summit, the Heads of State and Government talked about a second referendum in Ireland about the Lisbon Treaty, closer supervision of the financial sector and combating climate change in particular. The House of Representatives had a debate about the outcome of the European Council on Tuesday 23 June.

Next referendum
In a referendum held in June last year the Irish people voted against the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty. The European Council now offers a set of legal guarantees to address the Irish people's major concerns about the Treaty. These guarantees are about taxation, the military neutrality of Ireland and ethical issues such as abortion. Early in October 2009 a second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty will be held in Ireland.

Financial supervision
The European Council is of the opinion that the supervision of financial institutions needs to be enhanced, in the EU and worldwide, in order to prevent future crises and to restore confidence in the financial system. That is why the European Council endorses the establishment of a so-called Systemic Risk Board, which task it is to assess problems and threats to financial stability and to issue warnings whenever great risks threaten to occur.

System
Moreover, the European Council would like to establish a European System of Financial Supervision (ESFS), in order to enhance the quality and coherence of the national financial supervisors. The role of the ESFS is to exercise cross-border supervision and to draft European rules applying to all financial institutions within the EU-markets. In Fall 2009 proposals for legislation will be presented and the new European rules are meant to be introduced in the course of 2010.

Climate change
The European Union would like to play a key role in the climate agreement to be concluded in Copenhagen in December 2009. That is why the Heads of State and Government would like to put this item on the agenda of international summits, such as the major economies forum and G8 meetings. The European Council also decided that the EU will make a financial contribution to combating climate change in developing countries.