BRUSSELS, Belgium —The European Parliament Credit Union Interest Group met here to discuss how European Union policy can support increased access to credit union services in Europe.
The Interest Group, a caucus for members of the European Parliament who support credit unions, held the meeting at the European Parliament's Espace Léopold in Brussels. MEP Marian Harkin of the Republic of Ireland, who is co-chair of the Interest Group, and MEP Paul Tang of the Netherlands, who is vice-chair of the Interest Group, both spoke in support of reducing regulatory burdens on credit unions so that more ordinary Europeans have access to not-for-profit credit union services such as loans, savings, and current account products, according to the World Council of Credit Unions.
WOCCU reported that Larisa Dragomir, policy officer for the European Commission’s Directorate General on Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, addressed the Interest Group to discuss the European Commission’s recent proposal to exempt credit unions in the Netherlands and Croatia from the European Union’s Capital Requirements Directive IV, which is Europe’s version of the Basel III risk-based capital and liquidity standard. Credit unions are already exempt from Europe’s Basel III rules in other European Union member states including Estonia, the Republic of Ireland, Poland, and the United Kingdom.
Breege-Anne Murphy, head of legal and human resources for the Irish League of Credit Unions, also addressed the Interest Group regarding Irish credit unions’ expansion of current account and payments services to their members since 2013, as well as recent initiatives to expand credit union mortgage lending and microlending to Irish consumers, WOCCU said.
“Credit unions are ready and willing to expand the range of services to members and to promote financial inclusion,” said Murphy. “In order to achieve this, there must be recognition of the unique status of credit unions and an appropriate regulatory and legal framework must be in place to allow credit unions to develop.”
Representatives of the European Network of Credit Unions' (ENCU), including the Association of British Credit Unions, Ltd. (ABCUL), the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU), the National Association of Co-operative Savings and Credit Unions (NACSCU) of Poland, Estonian Union of Credit Cooperatives (EUCC), Federation of Romanian Credit Unions (FEDCAR ), the Dutch Association of Cooperating Credit Unions (VSK) and World Council of Credit Unions also shared how best to reduce compliance burdens on credit unions during the roundtable discussion held during the Interest Group meeting.