At the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the European Union in Brussels I gained my first practical experience with EU legislation and Council negotiations. In the finance and trade-policy area I followed negotiations on post-financial-crisis financial regulation, analysed proposals from the perspective of Czech interests and prepared debriefing for the Czech Ministry of Finance. The files included the emerging CRD IV/CRR package implementing Basel III, the proposal on OTC derivatives, central counterparties and trade repositories that later became EMIR, and the proposed EU regulation on short selling and credit default swaps. The role combined legislative reading, participation in meetings, assessment of implications for the Czech financial sector and communication between Brussels and the national administration.
CRD IV / CRR and Basel III
I followed the proposals COM(2011)452 and COM(2011)453, which formed the main EU legislative implementation of Basel III and later became the CRR and CRD IV. I assessed capital, liquidity and other prudential requirements from the perspective of their implications for the Czech financial sector.
OTC derivatives / EMIR
Another file was COM(2010)484 on OTC derivatives, central counterparties and trade repositories. The proposal introduced a framework for central clearing, reporting and risk management and subsequently became EMIR.
Short selling and CDS
I also worked on COM(2010)482 on short selling and certain aspects of credit default swaps, which later led to Regulation (EU) No 236/2012.
Reporting to Prague
The role included following negotiations in Brussels and reporting the relevant developments to the Czech Ministry of Finance. It was my first practical experience linking EU legislative negotiations, a national policy position and technical financial regulation.