International

SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong says that he is pleased by the acceptance of his proposal for recognition of and support for credit unions and cooperative banks. ‘In the last few years Brussels has for the most part only had eyes for the big, commercial banks, their functioning and their wishes,’ he says. ‘That the EU is now at last taking a different course and recognising banks which put the interests of their clients first and operate on a small scale is a major gain.’

De Jong’s proposal was accepted as an amendment to the EU package of new banking regulations, known as the CRD-IV proposals. Following yesterday’s vote on the package in the European Parliament, official negotiations will be opened between the two other legislative institutions, the European Commission, and the Council of Ministers, which directly represents the member states. ‘I am expecting that the Commission and Council will also show support for the work of credit unions and cooperative banks,’ says De Jong.

Credit unions are savings and loans collectives run by and for the benefit of for the most part small businesses. Credit unions operate in many EU member states, and in the Netherlands the initiative was recently taken to establish credit unions for small- and medium-sized enterprises. Cooperative banks have members rather than shareholders, and the interests of these members, rather than shareholders’ profits, are their central concern.