The City of London’s finance industry would be worse off than rival New York under an early draft for a cooperation agreement in financial services between Britain and the European Union, a document, seen by Reuters, showed.
FILE PHOTO: Buildings are seen in the Canary Wharf business district, as a man cycles along a path, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in London, Britain January 27, 2021. REUTERS/Peter Cziborra/File Photo
LONDON: The City of London’s finance industry would be worse off than rival New York under an early draft for a cooperation agreement in financial services between Britain and the European Union, a document, seen by Reuters, showed.
Britain’s financial services industry has been largely cut off from the EU, its biggest customer, since a Brexit transition period ended on Dec. 31 as the sector is not covered by the UK-EU trade deal.
Trading in EU shares and derivatives, for example, has already left Britain for continental Europe.
Both sides are committed to agreeing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) by the end of March on regular, informal talks about financial rules and market supervision.
An early draft of this document, seen by Reuters, has less substance than a deal the EU agreed with the United States in 2016, industry officials said.
“This is the start of a negotiation – the Commission proposed text is clearly more limited than the UK ambition,” said Chris Bates, a financial services lawyer at Clifford Chance.
Brussels can grant direct market access for foreign financial companies if it deems their home market rules are as robust as the EU’s own standards, a system known as “equivalence.”
A person familiar with Britain’s negotiating position said the UK focus is on making sure the MoU provides transparency and appropriate dialogue when it comes to adopting, suspending and withdrawing equivalence decisions.
Currently, the EU can in theory scrap equivalence decisions with just 30 days’ notice.
Under the U.S. deal with the EU, equivalence is treated as “outcomes-based”.
Britain has called for EU equivalence also to be outcomes based, which would ensure that the focus would be on whether financial rules in Britain and the EU produce the same result.
But there is no mention of outcomes-based equivalence in the draft EU-UK memorandum.
The EU text is deliberately more unambitious that the U.S. agreement and does not reflect even the current depth of relationship with bilateral MoUs already signed between individual regulators in Britain and the EU, one financial sector source said.
But industry officials also said that even the draft document now circulating would be a start in rebuilding trust between both sides.
“It is important to establish some framework for a regulatory dialogue even if there are low expectations of any movement on new equivalence decisions any time soon,” Bates said.
The financial industry wants Britain to include a provision for consultations with industry as part of the regulatory dialogue, the first source said.
“The MoU is on the lighter side of what the City wants,” a second financial sector source said, adding that this might make little difference given that Britain is likely to get only limited equivalence.
The European Commission declined to comment on the document. The UK finance ministry had no immediate comment.
Brussels has already made it clear that even an agreed MoU will not automatically lead to more EU access for London’s finance industry beyond time-limited permission to clear EU derivatives trades.
The EU executive is meeting with banks on Friday to ask how they can justify continuing to clear derivatives in London.
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said this week that Britain would resist any EU attempts to arm-twist banks into shifting trillions of euros in derivatives clearing from Britain to the bloc.
(Reporting by Huw Jones. Editing by Jane Merriman)
The EIB Group, consisting of the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund, mark a clear acceleration in its SME financing in The Netherlands.
From 2018 to 2020 around €3 billion was made available to Dutch SMEs, which, through a leverage effect from banks and private intermediaries, mobilised some €12.5 billion investments.
Vice-President Kris Peeters indicates that the EIB Group will continue along this line: “The current times call for continued support with access to finance for SMEs, something the EIB Group is definitely committed to.”
The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF) see a clear acceleration in European financing aimed at Dutch SMEs. In the years between 2018 and 2020 around €3 billion was made available through intermediary banks and funds in The Netherlands. This European financial injection made sure that, thanks to a leverage effect through the intermediaries, a total of approximately €12.5 billion of financing was allocated to Dutch SMEs.
Especially the EIF, which traditionally focuses on SME financing, saw a significant acceleration in 2020 by making available a record figure of €1,3 billion in guarantees (with a.o. Beequip, Invest-NL), fund investments (e.g. Shift Invest, Rubio Impact Fund) and inclusive finance (Triodos, Qredits). The EIB itself also saw a rise in ‘green’ credit lines, specifically meant for sustainable SMEs, such as the “impact loan” facilities done with Rabobank. Next to this, the Group collaborated with ING to allocate one of the largest credit lines ever, which made available € 1.1 billion in new SME-lending in the country.
Earlier this year, the EIB Group already announced it had signed a record volume in financing for Dutch projects in 2020. By putting the focus on SMEs, Vice-president Kris Peeters wants to signal to Dutch entrepreneurs that Europe is there for them: “Traditionally the EIB finances transport, energy and climate projects, but since the financial crisis the focus on SMEs has been further reinforced. In these difficult times, we wanted to do more, for example through special pan-European initiatives like the European Guarantee Fund. Europe is there for Dutch entrepreneurs, not only through the internal market, but also through very tangible, advantageous financing made available by the EIB Group through local intermediaries. The current times call for continued support with access to finance for SMEs, something the EIB Group is definitely committed to.”
BEIJING, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) — China’s Ministry of Commerce on Friday stressed that China and the European Union (EU) are partners rather than rivals, and the cooperation between the two sides is far greater than any competition.
China wishes to work together with the EU to safeguard and develop a multilateral trading system, the ministry said via a press release in response to a trade policy document released by the European Commission on Feb. 18.
China appreciates that the EU will continue to advocate multilateralism and a rules-based international order, support trade policies that feature openness and engagement, and attach importance to economic and trade relations with China as always, as stated in the document, said the statement.
However, it must be pointed out that the EU’s claim that China pursues “a distinct state-capitalist model,” which “poses increasing challenges for the established global economic governance system,” is not true, the ministry said.
It is also groundless to say that a key driver of the crisis the World Trade Organization (WTO) faces is that China’s accession to the organization has not led to its transformation into a market economy.
China firmly rejects such claims and accusations, said the ministry.
China has been building a socialist market economy in an all-round way, letting the market play a decisive role in resource allocation and giving full play to the role of the government.
History has shown that the country’s economic governance system contributes Chinese wisdom to global economic governance, said the press release.
The ministry said China has always been an active participant, firm supporter and important contributor to the WTO. The root causes of the current WTO crisis are unilateralism and protectionism.
At a time when the WTO faces serious challenges, China and the EU should work together to safeguard the authority and representativeness of the multilateral trading system, and strengthen solidarity and enhance trust among WTO members, said the commerce ministry.
According to the document, the EU will adopt stricter restrictions in foreign investment screening, export control, public procurement and foreign subsidies.
China hopes that the EU will increase its policy transparency, maintain fairness, justice and non-discrimination, and avoid hindering normal international trade and investment, the ministry said, adding that different social systems and economic models should not prevent the two sides from carrying out mutually beneficial cooperation.
China is ready to work with the EU to strengthen dialogue, deepen cooperation and properly handle differences to push for the steady and long-term development of China-EU economic and trade relations.
China hopes that the EU will continue to adhere to free trade and multilateralism, work with China to oppose unilateralism and protectionism, and facilitate the recovery of the world economy at the earliest possible date, said the ministry.
Athens [Grecce], February 25 (ANI): December 2020, European Union (EU) landmark trade deal – the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) with China, that aims to liberalise trade between Beijing and Brussels, may prove to be a dangerous move for Europe.
Since the signing of the deal by Chinese Premier Xi Jinping, there is a mounting concern in the European Parliament over China’s human rights record on issues, including alleged forced labour camps and a crackdown in Hong Kong against anti-government protestors, reported Greek City Times.
The trade deal raises questions over the credibility of the European Union as the champion of human rights as it has overlooked China’s human rights violations and security aspects in signing the deal. It has handed China an important victory.
The deal with the European Union is being hailed in China as a great success for President Xi Jinping before the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party and confirmation of its power in the world, reported Greek City Times.
The European Parliament’s demands for the deal to contain a clause binding China to international agreements on modern slavery were also ignored.
Instead, the deal only contains a non-binding commitment by China “to make continuous and sustained efforts” to ratify the International Labour Organisation’s conventions on forced labour, reported Greek City Times.
The concerns were echoed in a letter sent by a group of European Union MEPs to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The appeal, signed by a dozen civil rights groups, underlined that the CAI sent a signal that the European Union was pushing for closer cooperation with China “regardless of the scale and severity of human rights abuses carried out by the Chinese Communist Party.”They also opined that there was little opening for European nations to take advantage of the said deal by entering into the Chinese market as the overall winner was China as they had successfully inked the deal during the power transition phase in the United States, reported Greek City Times.
Moreover, Beijing’s ‘Made in China 2025’ (MIC 2025) initiative, whose objective is to achieve manufacturing dominance by 2025, is the main driving force behind these deals.
MIC 2025’s overall strategy is to achieve 70 per cent self-sufficiency in high-end industries and reduce dependence on foreign technology.
Regulations and tariffs imposed by developed countries have always made it difficult for China to access advanced technology, therefore, China is on the lookout for such deals that enable a liberal trade environment to further its interests.
Attempts of China Reform Holdings to takeover Imagination Technologies, a UK-based chip design firm engaged in artificial research is a case in point.
Had it not been for the timely intelligence inputs from the MI6 and MI5, the British government could not have managed to prevent this critical acquisition, reported Greek City Times.
The European Union must understand that the threat from China does not just come from state actors. Chinese enterprises are also a tool among others used by China in international conflicts, reported Greek City Times.
The Chinese Communist Party would leverage the liberal environment created by the deal to spread disinformation and propaganda and carry out extensive espionage on European soil.
The relaxation of rules and lax surveillance of Chinese activities would only strengthen its capabilities to unleash cyber and hybrid warfare in Europe. In light of the above, the European Union should be wary of approving this deal. (ANI)
European Commission Statement Brussels, 26 Feb 2021 Josep Borrell, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the Commission and Janez Lenarčič, Commissioner for Cr…
SAVE THE DATE – ESMA 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE – 23 MARCH 2021
As part of ESMA’s 10th year anniversary celebrations, we are hosting an online conference which will reflect on the progress the Authority has made in its first decade, as well as look to its future. The conference will take place on 23 March 2021, 15:00-18:35 CET.
Registrations are now open. Click here and save your virtual seat.
The full agenda can be downloaded here The event will gather representatives from the European Institutions, supervisors and a broad range of other stakeholders. More information about our speakers and hosts here
SOCIAL MEDIA DRIVEN SHARE TRADING? THINK TWICE.
GameStop frenzy and related phenomena
The trading in GameStop shares and related phenomena touches on several relevant regulatory and supervisory issues, across the areas of investor protection, trading, market abuse and post-trading processes.
We remember the unprecedented trading situation centred in the second half of January 2021 on the shares of firms such as US videogame retailer GameStop or US movie theatre company AMC Entertainment, which have seen their equity prices surge amid high trading volumes and extreme volatility. Large purchases of shares and of call options, combined with very high short positions created the conditions for unprecedented price increases.
The shares were heavily promoted by certain internet sites and in social media, which encouraged massive purchases by retail investors using leverage, and was amplified by forced buying from short sellers and underwriters of options, resulting in a so called “short squeeze”. As a result, GameStop and AMC share prices surged by 1,745% and 839% in January respectively, with consequent growth in their market capitalisation as well as their share traded volumes. At the end of January, when US brokers took steps to curtail activity, extreme movements in individual shares dissipated and concerns about possible contagion towards shares of other issuers diminished.
Overall, this had a significant impact on US equity trading volumes in January 2021, with volumes traded higher than in March 2020 – during the COVID-19 market stress – and twice as high compared to January 2020. However, trading activity related to GameStop or AMC shares on European venues remained marginal.
The likelihood of similar events happening in the European Union (EU) appears limited. While some EU shares were mentioned in the press as potential targets after the GameStop related events, European short positions levels are lower than in the US, with only 20 issuers with net short positions above 10% (at a maximum of 16%). This limits the risk of a GameStop style “short squeeze”. Moreover, short positions – especially large positions leading to public disclosures – have reduced markedly since the end of January. No increase in overall short-selling activity in the EU was observed in January 2021. While a few EU shares with larger short positions have seen some short-lived price spikes in the last week of January, the price increases were much more limited compared to US levels.
The observed extreme price volatility combined with the broad participation of retail investors raises, in the first place, investor protection concerns. In view of this, ESMA issued a Statement, on 17 February 2021, urging retail investors to be careful when taking investment decisions exclusively on the basis of information from social media and other unregulated platforms, if the reliability and quality of that information cannot be verified. While alerting them to the significant risks of investing in stocks characterised by very high price volatility, which will be even more profound for investors using leverage, ESMA stresses the importance of gathering investment information from reliable sources before taking an investment decision. Retail investors also need to clearly keep in mind one’s investment objectives, the ability to bear losses and the benefits of diversification. Financial education which can help to get better outcomes for retail investors.
ESMA closely coordinated its monitoring and assessment of the Game Stop phenomena with the National Competent Authorities (NCAs), which also issued their own clarifications, as well as with colleagues from the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Conduct Authority.
The use of new technology can help increase retail investors participation in financial markets, and thus contribute to one of the objectives of the Capital Markets Union Action Plan. However, there are concerns that specific aspects of online brokers’ business models may incentivise the adoption of risky short-term trading strategies by retail investors. Moreover, there are potentially concerns about the transparency of the fee structure. In particular, the role of online brokers’ business models in creating the recent surge in retail investor participation should be further investigated. We have observed the growing popularity of providers like RobinHood over the last 12 months, with the pandemic appearing to act as a catalyst for this increase in retail trading, against a backdrop of further digitalisation and falling trading commissions in finance.
The phenomenon of zero-commission trading needs to be looked at in more detail. To be sure, as such lower costs for retail investors are a welcome development, given the importance of costs in determining investors’ long-term returns. However, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Payments for order flow from third parties such as market makers may substitute commissions that are otherwise paid by clients, creating conflicts of interest and resulting in less transparency for retail clients. The practice of payment for order flow needs to be carefully assessed against the MiFID II requirements on conflicts of interest, best execution and inducements. Next to zero-commission trading, other practices also deserve scrutiny, such as the use of investment apps combined with a phenomenon known as the gamification of investing, potentially impacting retail investors’ risk awareness and contributing to the popularity of leveraged trading strategies.
Furthermore, from a market integrity perspective, the GameStop situation posed certain questions regarding the applicable market abuse regime requirements and prohibitions. Any trading strategy likely to give misleading signals as to the supply, demand or price of a financial instrument, or likely to secure its price at an abnormal or artificial level may represent market manipulation. While a simple intention to buy the shares of an issuer on which large short sale positions are established does not constitute market abuse, coordinated strategies to buy and sell at certain conditions and at a certain point in time with the objective to inflate the share’s price could constitute market manipulation. Moreover, posting false or misleading information about an issuer or a financial instrument on social media may also represent market manipulation.
Another set of considerations and lessons learnt relates to the suspension of buy orders on certain platforms. The sudden exclusion of retail investors from trading GameStop shares via RobinHood was argued, by the platform, as being driven by the large margin calls issued by the clearing house to cover the new positions and related risks, reflecting the heightened volatility and concentration associated with this sudden large trading activity by Robinhood clients. In the EU, from our discussion with the supervisors of EU CCPs, no major changes in margin requirements were noticed as the EU stocks that followed a similar situation did not experience as much volatility and concentration as in the US case.
ESMA will continue to monitor developments and may take further action where appropriate.
This material is based on the introductory statement given by ESMA Chair, Steven Maijoor, on 23 February at the European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.
ESMA has today published 4 new Q&As and modified 11 existing Q&As. ESMA also updated reporting instructions and an XML schema for the templates set out in the technical standards on disclosure requirements.
ESMA has today launched a consultation on draft technical standards on crowdfunding under the European crowdfunding service providers regulation (ECSPR).
ESMA have today published a joint supervisory statement on the effective and consistent application and national supervision of the Regulation on sustainability-related disclosures in the financial services sector (SFDR). The statement aims to achieve an effective and consistent application and national supervision of the SFDR, promoting a level playing field and protecting investors.
ESMA has launched a consultation on draft guidelines detailing the obligations applicable to administrators that use a methodology to calculate a benchmark in exceptional circumstances under the Benchmarks Regulation (BMR).
ESMA Head of Markets and Data Reporting Department, Fabrizio Planta, addressed yesterday the Members of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Fiscal Matters regarding the “Cum-Ex/Cum-Cum” tax fraud scandal. He referred to the past and prospective role of ESMA, and the recommendations and conclusions of the Final Report on the inquiry.
ESMA has published a Questions and Answers (Q&A) regarding the understanding of Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) aspects under the Regulation on European crowdfunding service providers for business.
The Board of Supervisors of ESMA has appointed Annemie Rombouts, Deputy Chair of the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority, as Chair of the Corporate Reporting Standing Committee (CRSC).
ESMA has today published the final report on Guidelines aimed at assisting competent authorities in the application of EMIR provisions that deal with the review and evaluation of central counterparties (CCPs).
ESMA Chair, Steven Maijoor, addressed today the Members of the European Parliament within the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON). He was invited together with the European Commission’s Director for Financial Markets, Ugo Bassi, for an exchange of views on GameStop share trading and related phenomena.
ESMA has released a statement to highlight to retail investors the risks connected with trading decisions based exclusively on exchanges of views, informal recommendations and sharing of trading intentions through social networks and unregulated online platforms. The statement is issued as part of ESMA’s investor protection objective to safeguard retail investors, whose participation is key to the development of the Capital Markets Union.
ESMA submitted questions related to the accounting for the third series of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) Targeted Longer-Term Refinancing Operations (TLTRO III) to the International Financial Reporting Standards Interpretations Committee (IFRS IC).
ESMA has issued today a call for candidates in order to renew the composition of its Consultative Working Group (CWG) which advises ESMA’s Investment Management Standing Committee (IMSC).
ESMA has today withdrawn the credit rating agency (CRA) registrations of Fitch France, Fitch Polska, Fitch Italia and Fitch Ratings España following the merger with Fitch Ratings Ireland.
ESMA is organising a workshop on CCP margins and procyclicality in times of crisis which will take place on 17 February 2021 from 2:30 to 6:00 PM (Paris time).
ESMA Chair, Steven Maijoor, addressed today senior policymakers and industry at the 5th Annual Conference on ‘FinTech and Regulation: New Challenges and New Solutions’. His speech touched upon: digitalisation: risks and opportunities; accelerating trends; and safe navigation.
The Joint Committee of the three European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA – ESAs) delivered today to the European Commission (EC) the Final Report, including the draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS), on the content, methodologies and presentation of disclosures under the EU Regulation on sustainability-related disclosures in the financial services sector (SFDR).
The European Supervisory Authorities – ESAs (the European Banking Authority, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority and the European Securities and Markets Authority) submitted today to the European Commission draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on amendments to the key information document for packaged retail and insurance-based investment products (PRIIPs).
ESMA today sent a letter to the European Commission consultation on the review of the European Long Term Investment Funds (ELTIF) Regulation. ESMA highlights the key topics of the ELTIF review where we see the need to consider amendments to this framework.
ESMA has today published a final report on implementing technical standards (ITS) under the Regulation on cross-border distribution of funds. The ITS focus on the publication of information by national competent authorities (NCAs) on their websites, the notification of information by NCAs to ESMA and the publication of information by ESMA on its website.
ESMA is launching a common supervisory action (CSA) with national competent authorities (NCAs) on the application of MiFID II product governance rules across the European Union (EU). The CSA will be conducted during 2021.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU securities markets regulator, has today launched a consultation on draft technical standards on crowdfunding under the European crowdfunding service providers regulation (ECSPR).
The new Regulation on crowdfunding regulates for the first time at EU level lending-based and equity-based crowdfunding services. It introduces a single set of requirements applicable to CSPs across the EU, including strict rules to protect investors.
The ECSPR requires ESMA to develop 12 technical standards – 8 regulatory technical standards (RTS) and 4 implementing technical standards (ITS) – on a variety of important topics.
This consultation paper seeks input on the draft technical standards developed by ESMA, on the following issues:
Complaint handling;
Conflicts of interest;
Business continuity plan;
Application for authorisation;
Information to client on default rate of projects;
Entry knowledge test and simulation of the ability to bear loss;
Key investment information sheet;
Reporting by crowdfunding service providers to NCAs (and NCAs to ESMA); and
Publication of national provisions concerning marketing requirements.
Next steps
ESMA will consider the responses to this consultation when developing the draft technical standards for the European Commission. The closing date for responses from stakeholders is 28 May 2021.
The majority of these technical standards are to be submitted to the European Commission for adoption before 10 November 2021. The remaining ESMA technical standards are to be delivered by 10 May 2022.
SYDNEY — Farmers as well as agricultural scientists and policy makers from Australia, Africa and North America have joined the global outcry at the unjust confiscation of lands belonging to Bahá’í farmers in Iran, as the Iranian authorities face mounting criticism over the widespread and systematic persecution of the country’s Bahá’ís.
In an open letter to Iran’s Chief Justice Ebrahim Raisi and acting Minister of Agriculture Abbas Keshavarz, figures in the field of agriculture from several countries across the world—including Canada, Ethiopia, Mali, and the United States—say they are speaking out because they “are concerned about the plight of smallholder farmers throughout the world who often face injustice from arbitrary authority.
“These recent land seizures take place within the context of escalating raids on Bahá’í owned homes and businesses in Iran,” they say, expressing their alarm at the latest stage in the ongoing persecution of the Bahá’ís of Ivel who have been displaced and economically impoverished by Iranian authorities solely because of their religious beliefs.
The open letter states: “We understand that Bahá’í families have farmed land in Ivel for over 150 years and that these families have been constructive members of the local community, by, for instance, starting a school for children of all faiths and by carrying out measures to improve the hygiene and health of all community members.
“Despite their contributions to the community,” the letter continues, “they have faced a series of persecutions throughout the years, characterized by mass expulsion and displacement, and the demolition, bulldozing and confiscation of their homes.”
The signatories call on Chief Justice Raisi and Minister of Agriculture Keshavarz to end the persecution of Bahá’ís, saying, “We write as fellow agriculturists to bring attention to this instance of persecution and urge the Iranian authorities to overturn their decision with regard to the farmers of Ivel.”
A moving video message released on behalf of members of Australia’s farming community draws attention to the plight of Bahá’í families in the Iranian village of Ivel. Claire Booth, a farmer from New South Wales, speaks in the video.
Meanwhile in Australia, a moving video message released on behalf of members of the country’s farming community draws attention to the plight of Bahá’í families in the Iranian village of Ivel.
“Farming is a difficult job at the best of times,” says Claire Booth, a farmer from New South Wales, in the video message. “It’s not made any easier by the frequency of floods, droughts, fires, climate change, and most recently, the impacts of the pandemic.”
The video message describes the role of a supportive government in assisting its farming communities, drawing a sharp contrast with Iran’s harsh treatment of the country’s “peaceful Bahá’í community.”
“We stand in solidarity with our farming brothers and sisters in this country,” the farmers say, “and call on the Iranian government and judiciary to return the land and properties to their rightful owners—Bahá’í farmers in Ivel.”
CNA Staff, Feb 25, 2021 / 06:15 am MT (CNA).- Catholic bishops across Europe have criticized a European Parliament resolution on Poland’s abortion law.
In a letter released on Feb. 25, the bishops said that the resolution, passed on Nov. 26, 2020, would have “a very negative impact” on the way that the European Union (EU) is seen by member states.
The European Parliament, the EU’s law-making body, passed the resolution by 455 votes to 145 after Poland’s top court ruled that a 1993 law permitting abortion for fetal abnormalities was unconstitutional.
The resolution lamented what it called a “de facto ban on the right to abortion in Poland.”
Before the Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling on Oct. 22, Polish law permitted abortion only in cases of rape or incest, a risk to the mother’s life, or fetal abnormality.
Following the publication of the ruling on Jan. 27, abortion will continue to remain legal in cases of rape or incest and risk to the mother’s life.
In their letter dated Feb. 22, the bishops said: “From a legal perspective we wish to underline that neither European Union legislation nor the European Convention on Human Rights provide for a right to abortion. This matter is left up to the legal systems of the member states.”
The letter was addressed to David Maria Sassoli, president of the European Parliament, and signed by members of the standing committee of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE).
The letter followed criticism of the resolution by Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, president of Poland’s bishops’ conference.
In a Dec. 2 statement, Gądecki said that there could be no compromise on the right to life.
He said: “The right to life is a fundamental human right. It always takes precedence over the right to choose, because no person can authoritatively allow the possibility of killing another.”
The EU bishops underlined the Catholic Church’s support for women facing difficult pregnancies as well as for the protection of unborn life.
They suggested that the resolution downplayed “a fundamental principle of European Union” known as the “principle of conferral,” which confines the EU to acting within limits agreed by member states.
“As the Parliament’s resolution rightly stresses, respect for the rule of law is essential for the functioning of the Union. That being said, the rule of law also requires respect for the competences of the member states and the choices made by them in the exercise of their exclusive competences,” the bishops wrote.
They said that the resolution also appeared to question the right to conscientious objection.
“This is particularly worrying considering that in the healthcare sector conscientious objectors are in many cases subject to discrimination. In our view, such unjust stigmatization should not be promoted,” they said.
They added: “In regard to the right to conscientious objection, the European Union Charter entails the need to respect national constitutional traditions and the development of national legislation on the issue.”
The bishops also expressed concern that the principle of “non-discrimination,” highlighted in the resolution, could be used to “stretch or blur the limits” of the EU’s authority over member states.
COMECE, founded in 1980, consists of bishops delegated by the bishops’ conferences of the 27 member states of the European Union. The letter was signed by COMECE’s president Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg; Bishop Mariano Crociata of Latina, Italy; Bishop Franz Josef Overbeck of Essen, Germany; Bishop Noel Treanor of Down and Connor, Northern Ireland; and Bishop Jan Vokal of Hradec Králové, Czech Republic.
In the letter, the bishops alluded to mass protests in Poland in the wake of the Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling. Demonstrators disrupted Masses while holding signs supporting abortion, left graffiti on Church property, vandalized statues of St. John Paul II, and chanted slogans at clergy.
The bishops said: “We also noted with sadness that no condemnation or solidarity was expressed in the text with regard to the unacceptable attacks on churches and places of worship in the context of protests related to this law in Poland.”
