RIGA - Finance ministers from the Baltic Sea states failed to agree on the creation of a joint banking supervision authority as recommended by an expert task force.
Latvian Finance Minister Oskars Spurdzins told the Baltic News Service that the European Commission was working on a new regulation on supervising credit institutions and that no decisions should be made prior to this.
He said that if the commission adopts a regulation for a single banking supervision authority throughout Europe, it would be formed. This, in Spurdzins' opinion, would ensure an equal playing field for the banking business in all EU member states.
Even though the finance ministers failed to reach an agreement, the expert task force set up to advise on the best solutions for financial cooperation in the region will continue to study the possibilities for creating a joint supervisory body.
He said that the announcement by the German finance minister about lowering the corporate income tax was a pleasant surprise at the meeting, which took place in Copenhagen. Previously Germany was one of the countries that accused the new EU members of having low corporate income taxes.
