On June 2 2003 the European Commission published its eighth progress report on the Financial Services Action Plan.
It highlights a number of recent steps towards the completion of the plan, with 34 of the 42 proposed measures now adopted. The latest include:
- adoption of the Market Abuse Directive;
- adoption of the Pension Funds Directive;
- amendments to the Accounting Directives;
- political agreement on a directive on the taxation of savings income;
- political agreement followed by a common position on the Prospectus Directive; and
- proposal for a directive on transparency for listed companies.
The deadline for the completion of the Financial Services Action Plan is December 31 2005. In order to achieve this target, the final cut-off date for the definitive adoption of legislative measures is April 2004, in view of European Parliament elections and the 18-month time period needed for implementation by EU member states.
For further information on this topic please contact Philip Woolfson at Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly by telephone (+32 2 626 0500) or by fax (+32 2 626 0510) or by email ([email protected]).