Thread: European union news/updates and info

European Union Boosts Competition in Consumer Credit
Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: European consumers can soon check out loan conditions outside of national borders
EU member states have agreed on more consumer-friendly rules for credit and personal loans. Harmonizing these regulations across the 27-nation bloc will make it easier for consumers to shop around for the best deals.

The new consumer credit directive will fully standardize the patchwork of existing national regulations for loans of up to 100,000 euros ($135,000), according to the EU Council.

"These differences in national legislation are considered as obstacles to the internal market," the council said in a statement.

Consumers will in future benefit from the same information and rghts regardless of where they live in the European Union, it said.

The reform, which has been in the works for five years, is supposed to boost competition among consumer credit providers.

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: German consumers run up the most debts in the EU
German consumer protection agencies, however, have not welcomed the move. Across the EU, German consumers take out the most personal loans. The agencies said they feared the new directive would prompt Germans to run up even more debts than was already the case.

Shopping for the best deal

The council, however, said the new directive would also improve consumer protection.

"This agreement delivers clear practical advantages to Europe's consumers," said German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries, who chaired the meeting of ministers in charge of competitiveness issues where the deal was agreed on Monday.

Zypries said in the future, it would be possible to make "genuine comparisons" among credit offers throughout Europe.

"Credit providers will be subject to uniform transparency rules, and the annual percentage rate of charge for credit will be calculated in accordance with uniform standards," Zypries said.

The new directive still needs final approval from the European Parliament.

Identifying opportunities beyond national borders

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Zypries hopes for more transparency
Consumer credit rates currently vary widely across the EU from as low as 6 percent in Finland to as high as 12 percent in Portugal. Despite such variations, few Europeans try to take advantage of cheaper rates in other countries, with less than 1 percent of all consumer credit taking place across EU borders.

"Of course, most consumers will enter credit agreements with nearby banks, or at least banks in their own country," Zypries said.

"However, this directive will make it easier for the growing proportion of mobile citizens and users of Internet banking services to identify opportunities beyond the borders of their national credit markets," she said.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,214 ... 23,00.html


If the EU is not a nation state its self, then I got a bridge in new york city to sell you. Because this is about as close you can get.

They are moving right ahead with making it offical. I think they will make it so this time.

Merkel vows to achieve agreement on new EU constitution



German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged on Monday that she was determined to find a way to proceed with the stalled European Union constitution.

Merkel said she hoped to achieve "a fair comprise" before her country's six-month presidency of the bloc expires at the end of June.

She made the remarks at the start of talks in Berlin with the leaders of two Baltic states and Austria discussing the new charter.

It was important to maintain the effectiveness of the European Union, Merkel said at the meeting with Estonian Prime Minister Adruss Ansip, Latvian Premier Aigars Kalvitis and Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer.

The three leaders expressed support for her approach, hoping she could retain as much of the original document as possible in her negotiations.

Kalvitis said further delays in coming to an agreement on the treaty would damage the credibility of the EU, while Ansip said he was in favor of a strong European Union.

Merkel has been intensifying consultations with EU member leaders, aiming at a consensus before an EU summit in Brussels on June 21-22.

Merkel hopes the summit will be able to agree on all but four or five of the most contentious issues, which could be cleared up by the end of the year during Portugal's presidency following that of Germany and approved by national parliaments in time for European elections in 2009.

She wants to retain key parts of the proposed constitution, which was ratified by 18 of the bloc's 27 members and went stalled as it was rejected by French and Dutch voters two years ago.

They would include setting up new positions of EU president and foreign minister, a greater say for national parliaments in European affairs and a new weighted voting system that would also take into account a country's size.

But the name constitution could be omitted from the original document.

Aside from France and the Netherlands, Britain, the Czech Republic and Poland have voiced reservations about the new treaty and want it scaled down.

Source: Xinhua


http://english.people.com.cn/200705/29/ ... 78799.html

To history nuts on this board.

Is it true that only about 10-20 percent of the people of the new world wented to form their own country in 1776? In they broke off from Great Briton. So people wenting the United states at the time is less people then people in europe that went the Eu/United states of Europe? Also if I remember right it took like 10-12 years to get the law of the land in place and our current form of government. Just looking at it through history.