Author: Selwyn Manning

Source: Government of the Netherlands

News item | 28-05-2025 | 17:24

Foreign trade is the cornerstone of the Dutch economy. The Netherlands earns roughly a third of its total income abroad. Foreign trade also provides some 2.6 million full-time jobs – about a third of all jobs in the Netherlands. But an open economy also makes the Netherlands vulnerable to turmoil in global markets.

The government has therefore decided to implement an assertive trade policy. Priority will be given to what is good for the country’s economy (prosperity) and what is important for its security (resilience).

Speaking today, Ms Klever said, ‘This government will pursue a robust trade policy, focused on prosperity and a strong, resilient economy. We will continue to support our entrepreneurs abroad and invest in promising markets and high-potential sectors. The Netherlands is a trade champion and together we’ll make sure it stays that way, even in a turbulent world.’

Promising markets and high-potential sectors

The Netherlands will continue to invest in trusted partners and established markets where its businesses have long been successful. At the same time, the country is seeking new strategic partners, and the government is focusing on the promising markets of the future. These are countries that are expected to see strong economic growth in the coming decades, for example due to rapid population growth or major investment in education and research and development.

The government is also explicitly targeting high-potential sectors and essential key technologies, such as semiconductors (microchips), quantum technology and photonics. These technologies are important not only for the Dutch economy, but also for our national security and technological leadership.

Agreements within the EU

Within the European Union, the government aims to advocate more explicitly for Dutch trade interests, for example during talks on trade agreements. The government will work to ensure a level playing field internationally, so that Dutch entrepreneurs have a fair chance to compete.

In addition, it is committed to a well-functioning single European market, free from unnecessary rules. The Netherlands will also press for a constructive dialogue between the EU and the United States on import tariffs. At the same time, the government is ready to defend Dutch economic interests with countermeasures if dialogue does not lead to a positive outcome.

Protecting sensitive technologies

The government is also working to protect Dutch technologies, together with the EU and international partners. For example, the export of sensitive goods and technologies is being monitored to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. The government is also actively implementing policy on knowledge security and overseeing the implementation of and compliance with sanctions.

Support for Dutch businesses

Supporting Dutch entrepreneurs remains a key part of the minister’s trade policy, for example through economic missions and assistance with international contract award procedures. The Netherlands has several grant and financing opportunities available for companies that want to do business internationally. Invest International and Atradius Dutch State Business also give entrepreneurs extra support to get high-risk projects abroad off the ground.

Linking aid, trade and investment

Finally, the government wants to link aid, trade and investment more firmly, as laid down in the policy letter on international development. The government is committed to working with Dutch companies in stable low- and middle-income countries. The focus is on areas where the Netherlands excels: food security, water management and health.

Source: European Banking Authority

The European Banking Authority (EBA) today published the final technical package for version 4.1 of its reporting framework. This package will support the assessment and identification of significant crypto asset providers. It will also support the centralisation of institutions’ prudential disclosures in the EBA Pillar 3 data hub, which shall facilitate access and usability of this information to all users, including institutions. This framework will apply as of the second half of 2025.

The draft technical package provides the standard specifications which include the validation rules, the data point model (DPM) and the XBRL taxonomies to support the following reporting obligations:

• Pillar 3 templates included in the comprehensive Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) on Pillar 3 disclosures, for the purpose of the Pillar 3 data hub.
• Own initiative guidelines on reporting of data that competent authorities will need for the purpose of their supervisory tasks and for significance assessment (MiCAR reporting Guidelines).
• Integration of Instant Payments reporting ITS into DPM and taxonomy
• A series of validation rules have been added to the ESG ad-hoc data collection module.

Background and Next steps

A draft version of the technical package for the 4.1 reporting framework was published at the end of March 2025. The final version published today includes corrections and addresses the feedback provided from the revision of the draft technical package by various stakeholders.

In June 2024, the EBA published its plan for the implementation of DPM 2.0. The draft technical package for version 4.1 published today, continues the transition to DPM 2.0 and to the new glossary, as announced in June. This draft technical package includes a version of the data dictionary contents in both formats the DPM 1.0 and the new format DPM 2.0.

The FAQs published in December 2024 providing additional explanations on the transition to DPM 2.0 and a new glossary period remain a good source of information. In addition, the EBA is providing a presentation explaining the use of DPM-XL language for validation rules

Source: Government of the Netherlands

News item | 26-05-2025 | 12:35

Dance and Design on Display

To mark National Day, the King attended a dance performance in the National Day Hall on the Expo grounds. Dutch ensemble Introdans collaborated with the Japanese group LAND FES for the occasion. Choreographers Adriaan Luteijn and Dai Matsuoka are pioneers in inclusive dance, creating performances where professional dancers share the stage with dancers with disabilities. The King also visited the temporary exhibition Arts & Crafts on Common Ground, where Dutch designers and Japanese artisans collaborated to create works that fuse contemporary and traditional techniques.

Strengthening Economic Ties

As part of the economic mission, a roundtable was held at the Netherlands Pavilion with CEOs from Dutch and Japanese companies. The meeting was attended by the King and co-hosted by the Kansai Economic Federation and the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers (VNO-NCW). The goal: to encourage economic cooperation between the Netherlands and the Kansai region in western Japan—particularly in the fields of natural sciences, healthcare, and chemistry.

Source: European Banking Authority

The European Banking Authority (EBA) today published an Opinion following a notification by the Norwegian Ministry of Finance of its intention to change the calibration of a measure originally introduced on 31 December 2020 and already extended until 30 June 2025. The measure aims to ensure that capital requirements of Norwegian institutions using internal ratings-based (IRB) approaches are appropriate for the systemic risks stemming from their residential real estate exposures. Based on the information provided, the EBA does not object to the measure.

The measure is an exposure-weighted average risk weight floor applying to retail exposures secured by immovable property located in Norway. The institutions in scope of the measure are all institutions established in Norway that use the Internal Ratings Based (IRB) approach for the calculation of capital requirements for the relevant exposures. The notified period of application is between 1 July 2025 until 31 December 2026.

In this Opinion, addressed to the Standing Committee of the EFTA States, the EFTA Surveillance Authority and the Norwegian Ministry of Finance, the EBA takes note of the financial stability risks stemming from high household debt and the build-up of financial imbalances in Norway. Against this background, the EBA invites the Ministry of Finance to closely monitor any overlaps of the proposed measure with microprudential requirements and other macroprudential measures already in force. In particular, the EBA points to unintended overlaps as the output floor requirements are phased-in and invites the Ministry to monitor closely and review the need for the proposed measure.

Legal basis and background

On 11 April 2025, the EBA received a notification from the Norwegian Ministry of Finance of its intention to apply Articles 458(2) and 458(9) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on prudential requirements for credit institutions and investment firms (Capital Requirements Regulation, CRR) as incorporated into Annex IX of the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA) by the EEA Joint Committee Decision No 79/2019. In accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 458(4) of the CRR as incorporated into Annex IX of the Agreement on the EEA, within one month of receiving the notification, the EBA shall provide its opinion to the Standing Committee of the EFTA States, the EFTA Surveillance Authority and the EFTA State concerned. 

Source: European Banking Authority

The European Banking Authority (EBA) today published an onboarding plan for large and other institutions, setting out the steps required for accessing and submitting information to the new Pillar 3 Data Hub (P3DH) – the EBA’s centralised platform for public disclosures under the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR3).This initiative is a significant milestone in the EBA’s commitment to enhancing transparency and consistency in Pillar 3 disclosures across the EU financial system and promoting market discipline.

The onboarding plan outlines the procedural steps that institutions need to follow to ensure timely and accurate submissions of Pillar 3 information. The onboarding plan provides a step-by-step guide for the identification of institutions and to give them access to the EBA’s EUCLID Regulatory Reporting Platform, through which the Pillar 3 data will be submitted. It also spells out the timeline for the process, which will follow a phased-in approach.

In addition to the onboarding plan, the EBA is publishing a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) that aim to help institutions during the first implementation and data submission process. The FAQs will be a living document that will be updated by the EBA as needed.

Furthermore, the EBA is introducing a phased-in approach and transitional provisions that should give institutions time to prepare for the process. This means that institutions will be able to continue to fulfil their Pillar 3 disclosure obligations during 2025 as usual, and the submissions to the P3DH will occur only at a later stage. This approach will give institutions with enough time to complete the onboarding process and align their internal processes, without impacting the compliance with the CRR requirements.

By providing a single, centralised platform for Pillar 3 data, the EBA will support all interested users—including institutions—by significantly enhancing access and comparability of prudential information. For the first time, users will be able to explore and visualise disclosures across institutions and over time in a single public platform, making it easier for institutions to benchmark themselves against peers and fostering market discipline. This will not only strengthen the transparency of the EU banking sector but also promote the soundness and resilience of the broader financial system. The P3DH information will be available to the public from December 2025.

The EBA encourages all relevant institutions to familiarise themselves with the onboarding process and begin preparations for the P3DH implementation.

Legal basis, backgrounds and next steps

The new Banking Package (CRR3/CRD6), which will implement the latest Basel III reforms in the EU, includes a mandate to the EBA to develop a Pillar 3 data hub. The EBA’s plan on how to implement the mandates included in the Banking Package is explained in the ‘EBA Roadmap on strengthening the prudential framework’, published in December 2023.

The CRR establishes the prudential disclosure requirements and policies applicable to institutions, specifying the frequency and scope of these disclosures by type of institution, e.g. large institutions, small and non-complex institutions (SNCI) and other institutions The CRR3 (Articles 434 and 434a) mandates the EBA to publish on its website the prudential disclosures for all institutions subject to such requirements, making it readily available in a centralised manner to all the relevant stakeholders through a single electronic access point on its website. To comply with this mandate, the EBA is building a data hub putting together all the disclosures required under Part Eight of the CRR. As a first step the EBA has published also the final draft ITS on the Pillar 3 data hub for large and other institutions. 

Source: European Banking Authority

• The EBA proposes a proportionate ESG disclosure framework aligned with the European Commission’s initiative to simplify sustainability reporting.
• Simplified requirements are proposed for small and medium banks, as well as clarifications and enhancements to streamline reporting. No new obligations are introduced for large-listed banks.
• To support institution’s implementation, the EBA proposes to introduce transitional measures and supervisory flexibility aimed at reducing the compliance burden for institutions.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) today launched a public consultation on proposed amendments to the European Commission’s Implementing Regulation on Pillar 3 disclosures under the CRR3. The proposal specifies enhanced and proportionate disclosure requirements related to ESG-related risks, equity exposures and aggregate exposure to shadow banking entities. It also implements the new codes for the statistical classification of economic activities in the EU (NACE).  The. Today’s proposal aims to enhance transparency and consistency of disclosures in a proportionate manner. The consultation runs until 22 August 2025.

This consultation paper finalises the implementation of the Pillar 3 disclosure requirements introduced by the banking package (CRR3), including the extension of the scope of application of ESG risks-related disclosures to all institutions and the disclosure of information on shadow banking and equity exposures.

In line with the European Commission’s omnibus proposal  to reduce reporting costs and simplify sustainability reporting, the EBA has designed a proportionate approach for ESG disclosures based on the institution’s type, size and complexity, with simplified disclosures for banks other than large, particularly for those that are small or non-listed.

Furthermore, the consultation does not introduce any new requirement on banks already disclosing ESG related information (large listed banks),  but aims to simplify the reporting process by clarifying the existing requirements based on the experience gained. It does this by introducing materiality considerations regarding the frequency of some of the disclosures and by ensuring full and permanent alignment with the Taxonomy Regulation in terms of scope and definition of the Green Asset Ratio (GAR) templates.

Transitional provisions have been introduced to support institutions and facilitate the initial implementation of the new requirements. For ESG disclosures, in particular, consistently with these transitional provisions, in order to clarify expectations, ensure consistency and reduce operational burden, for the period until the ITS now being consulted starts applying, the EBA is encouraging supervisory flexibility. For this purpose, the EBA is considering issuing a no action letter advising competent authorities not to prioritise the enforcement of the disclosure of certain templates related to the Green Asset Ratio and Taxonomy Regulation for large and listed institutions; nor the enforcement of the disclosure of any ESG-related templates for other institutions.

Finally, the EBA is further supporting institutions in their compliance with disclosure requirements by providing an updated mapping tool between Pillar 3 and supervisory reporting.

Consultation process

Responses to the consultation can be sent to the EBA by clicking on the “Submit response” button on the consultation page.

All contributions received will be published after the consultation closes, unless requested otherwise. The deadline for the submission of comments is 22 August 2025

A public hearing on this consultation will take place via conference call on 26 June 2025 from 11:00 to 12:30 CEST. Deadline for registration is 24 June 2025 at 16:00 CEST.

Legal basis and background

Regulation (EU) 2024/1623 of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR3) implements the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS)’s December 2017 Basel III post-crisis regulatory reforms in EU, while considering the specific aspects of the EU’s banking sector. The new banking package envisages further harmonisation of supervisory powers and enforcement tools and an increase in transparency and proportionality in the Pillar 3 disclosure requirements.

The EBA’s plan on how to implement the mandates included in the Banking Package is explained in the ‘EBA Roadmap on strengthening the prudential framework’, published in December 2023. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/3172 including the new and amended disclosure requirements directly linked to Basel III implementation was published last year as part of step 1 of the EBA roadmap. As part of step 2 of the EBA roadmap, the Pillar 3 disclosure framework is amended to consider the other CRR 3 amendments to Part Eight of the CRR, including disclosure requirements on equity exposures (Article 438(e) of CRR3); new disclosure requirements on the aggregate exposure to shadow banking entities (Article 449b of CRR3); and the extension of the scope of application of disclosure requirements on ESG risks to all institutions (Article 449a of CRR3).

In addition, the Guidelines on disclosure of non-performing and forborne exposures (EBA/GL/2018/10 as amended by EBA/GL/2022/13) are repealed, considering the extension of the disclosure requirements on non-performing exposures and forbearance to listed SNCI and other non-listed institutions in accordance with the CRR 3 Articles 433b and 433c.

On February 26, 2025, the Commission published the Omnibus proposal aimed at simplifying sustainability reporting under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), and Taxonomy Regulation.

Source: European Banking Authority

• All national deposit guarantee schemes (DGS) in the European Union (EU) have reached the envisaged minimum target level.
• The funds have been built up over a 10-year period through contributions from credit institutions and are directly available to reimburse depositors in the case of a bank failure.
• The amount of deposits protected by the DGSs increased by 3.2% to €8.6tn from 2023 to 2024.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) today published end-2024 data related to two key concepts and indicators in the Deposit Guarantee Schemes Directive (DGSD), namely financial means available to, and covered deposits protected by, national deposit guarantee schemes. The EBA publishes this data for each Member State, and on a yearly basis to enhance the transparency and public accountability of DGSs across the EU to the benefit of depositors, markets, policymakers, DGSs and Members States. Following a 10-year build-up phase, the EU DGS funds have reached €79bn of available means in aggregate.

The DGSD ensures the adequate protection of depositors when banks fail, by guaranteeing that deposits up to a certain level will always be repaid even if the bank holding them fails. Covered deposits are guaranteed up to €100,000 or the equivalent in other currencies per depositor at each bank. The data as of 31 December 2024 shows that, compared to 2023, the amount of covered deposits across the EU further increased by 3.2% to €8.6tn, after increases of 1.7% in 2023 and 2.5% in 2022.

Furthermore, all banks in the EU have been obliged to contribute to funds held by the DGSs in their jurisdiction for the main purpose of reimbursing depositors within seven days after a bank failure. The deadline for those funds to reach the minimum required target level of usually 0.8% of covered deposits for the first time was 3 July 2024. The end-2024 data shows that all 33 EU DGSs are at or above that target level. In total, funds available to protect deposits in case of bank failures rose by 11.1% to €79bn in 2024. DGSs have in place additional arrangements, to require credit institutions to make additional contributions to the fund and/or to make additional short-term funding available should the need arise.

The public data includes data for the EU countries, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein, which together form the European Economic Area (EEA). The total covered deposits in the EEA amount to €8.8tn and the total available financial means in the EEA funds amount to €81bn at the end of2024.

Legal basis and background

The EBA is collecting data on deposit guarantee schemes in accordance with Article 10(10) of the DGSD. As per its Decision EBA/DC/2018/243 from 23 July 2018, the EBA makes this data publicly available on its website.

Furthermore, in support of the DGSD, the EBA published in December 2021 the Guidelines EBA/GL/2021/17 on the delineation and reporting of AFMs of the DGSs and, thus, expanded the reporting requirements from DGSs to the EBA.

Source: Government of the Netherlands
Accountability Day and 2024 Central Government Annual Financial Report The Netherlands’ public finances are strong. Despite a slight contraction in the first quarter, the Dutch economy grew by 1.0% in 2024. Growth was stronger than expected, which had a positive impact on public finances. The budget deficit for 2024 was 0.9% of gross domestic product (GDP). These conclusions can be found in the Central Government Annual Financial Report for 2024, the year in which the Schoof government took office at the beginning of the summer.

Source: European Banking Authority

Note to the editors  

Source: European Banking Authority

The European Banking Authority (EBA) today repealed its Guidelines on specification of types of exposures to be associated with high risk due to the application of the new capital requirement regulation (CRR 3). The repeal of the Guidelines aims at providing legal certainty to the market. 

The Guidelines were published on the 15^th of March 2019, as mandated per CRR article 128 last sub-paragraph. They clarified which exposures should be considered as “high risk exposures”. Given that this exposure class no longer exists in CRR 3, as Article 128 now only refers to ‘subordinated debt exposures’, the Guidelines are no longer applicable.