Sustainable investing: How to do it. Bruegel Policy Contribution Issue n˚23 | November 2018

Sustainable investment is gaining momentum in Europe, but its current proposed taxonomy might hinder innovation in the field. In this Policy Contribution, Dirk Schoenmaker advocates for an active investment approach with concentrated portfolios, and sets out a six-point plan for sustainable investing

Should the ‘outs’ join the European banking union? Bruegel Policy Contribution Issue 2016/03 February 2016

For political reasons, European Union member states’ opinions on joining banking union range from outright refusal to active consideration. The main stance is to wait and see how the banking union develops. The wait-and-see positions are often motivated by the consideration that joining banking union might imply joining the euro. However, in the long term, banking union’s ultimate rationale is linked to cross-border banking in the single market, which goes beyond the single currency. This Policy Contribution documents the banking linkages between the nine ‘outs’ and 19 ‘ins’ of the banking union. We find that some of the major banks based in Sweden and Denmark have substantial banking claims across the Nordic and Baltic regions. We also find large banking claims from banks based in the banking union on central and eastern Europe. The United Kingdom has a special position, with London as both a global and European financial centre. We find that the out countries could profit from joining banking union, because it would provide a stable arrangement for managing financial stability. Banking union allows for an integrated approach towards supervision (avoiding ring fencing of activities and therefore a higher cost of funding) and resolution (avoiding coordination failure). On the other hand, countries can preserve sovereignty over their banking systems outside the banking union

70 Years Since the Liberation of the Netherlands From Memory to Remembrance

On 16 October 2014, the Canadian War Museum partnered with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to host the first in the Embassy’s national series of lectures “From Memory to Remembrance” in the Museum’s Barney Danson Theatre. The Embassy launched the series in the fall of 2014, with subsequent events in February and April 2015, with Canadian and Dutch scholars helping the audience to follow the Canadian military campaign from the Battle of the Scheldt to the German capitulation at Wageningen on 5 May 1945. Attended by His Excellency Governor General David Johnston, the Ottawa event featured Terry Copp, Wilfrid Laurier University, who lectured on how the Canadians’ major engagements in the Scheldt Battle unfolded, and Ben Schoenmaker of the University of Leiden and Netherlands Institute of Military History, who spoke to the Dutch perspective of the 1944-1945 battles and views of the liberating forces. Dean Oliver, Director of Research at the Canadian Museum of History moderated. On 26 February 2015, the University of Calgary hosted the second instalment of the series, moderated by David Bercuson and featuring Canadian historian Mark Zuehlke and Erwin van Loo, Senior Research Fellow at the Dutch Institute for Military History. The final instalment in the series took place in Fredericton on 1 April 2015, in partnership with the Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society, and featured the Centre’s Deputy Director, Lee Windsor, and Lieutenant-Colonel Wouter Hagemeijer, Assistant Professor at the Netherlands Defence Academy. The event was moderated by Marc Milner, the Gregg Centre’s director. His Excellency Cees Kole, Ambassador of the Netherlands to Canada, opened the first event in the series Ambassador Kole joined the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1984. Before his posting to Ottawa in 2013, he served in diplomatic postings in Warsaw, Brussels, Paris, and as ambassador to Iran. The ambassador’s speech opening the From Memory to Remembrance series offers some interesting insights into the interplay between lived experiences, history, and remembrance, as well as highlighting the many connections between Canada and the Netherlands, which the presenters in the series further underlined. The speech is reproduced in full below

The Bankıng Resolutıon Funds In The European Unıon

The new directive of the European Parliament and the European Council issued in 2014 define unified expectations regarding banking resolution mechanism to be applied in territory of each EU member state. The non-euro zone member states must create national resolution funds while the euro zone member states have to upload the so called Single Resolution Fund. These funds are implemented in order to finance the banking resolution processes. This article introduces the main rules of the unified resolution system as well as deals with its financial background. The European Commission declared in its statement that the target level of the Single Resolution Fund is 55 billion euros. However, this paper provides evidence that this target level is underestimated

Brexit and the European financial system: mapping markets, players and jobs. Bruegel Policy Contribution Issue n˚4 | 2017

Brexit will lead to a partial migration of financial firms from London to the EU27. This Policy Contribution provides a comparison between London and four major cities that will host most of the new EU27 wholesale market: Frankfurt, Paris, Dublin and Amsterdam. It gives a detailed picture of the wholesale markets, the largest players in these markets and the underlying clearing infrastructure. It also provides data on professional services and innovation

Should Denmark and Sweden Join the Banking Union?

An important policy discussion on joining the banking union is currently taking place in Denmark and Sweden. In this article we review the pros and cons of joining. The main rationale for joining the banking union is the importance of cross-border banking in the EU internal market. Reviewing the banking systems, we find that banks in Denmark and Sweden have the same cross-border characteristics as those in the euro area countries, suggesting a similar rationale for joining the banking union. Moreover, both countries have large banks which may be too big to save at country level, but not at the banking union level. Nevertheless, there are some governance concerns. While euro area countries have an automatic and full say in all banking union arrangements, the non-euro area countries (the ‘out’ countries) lack certain formal powers in ultimate decision-making; however, we find that this may be less of a problem in practice. If necessary, the ‘out’ countries would have the ‘nuclear option’ of leaving the banking union