Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-26-Speech-1-087"
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"en.20050926.14.1-087"2
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". Mr President, I would like to start by thanking Alexander Radwan and the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee for the excellent work done on this dossier. Let me stress that the work on the Capital Requirements Directive has been a very good example of efficient cooperation between Parliament, the Council and the Commission. Considering the complexity of the issues involved, I think this has been a real achievement.
I welcome the initiative taken by the Presidency to set up a ‘Friends of the Presidency’ group to launch the discussion on the Commission proposal in the Council. This is an important step forward. The European Parliament must confirm urgently whether its support of the Commission proposal still holds and if not, identify clearly what it wants to achieve. The Commission stands ready to cooperate both with Parliament and the Council to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion on this delicate matter as soon as possible.
Let me make only a few more specific points. I understand the European Parliament’s interest in creating a much stronger sense of urgency with regard to the question of its powers to supervise the Commission’s exercise of its implementing powers. But introducing a sunset clause, coming into force on 1 January 2007, would be too short. There is a serious danger that such a drastic reduction in the duration of the sunset clause would send a wrong and dangerous signal to the marketplace that the adoption of the necessary implementing measures could become highly uncertain.
The Council has indicated that a period of at least two years is acceptable. In the light of the discussions that have taken place, the Commission considers that this is a viable period. The introduction of such a reduced period for implementing powers – much shorter than the normal period of four years – clearly emphasizes the need urgently to find a solid, lasting and balanced solution for the supervision of the Commission’s implementing powers by both branches of the legislative authority. All institutions must work together to reach this solution as quickly as possible. In this regard, the Commission notes that in the first half of 2007, the first sunset clauses under the so-called Lamfalussy process will start suspending the Commission’s implementing powers for two directives - the Conglomerates Directive on 11 February 2007 and the Market Abuse Directive on 12 April 2007.
While the Commission lives by the commitments made by the then President, Romano Prodi, and my predecessor Frits Bolkestein, when the European Parliament approved the Lamfalussy process, the Commission understands that a renewal of its implementing powers for those directives would be problematic in the absence of an overall solution on comitology. This very fact should motivate all institutions to make progress. Failure to agree would not only spoil the spirit of cooperation between the institutions, it would also be detrimental to the further development of an integrated financial services market, which relies heavily on the availability of executive powers within the context of framework legislation agreed by codecision. I would also add that other policy areas would be affected from a lack of agreement on comitology.
Before concluding, I would like to reiterate my call on both Parliament and the Council to work constructively towards a solution. The Commission from its side will assist wherever it can to ensure that the sense of urgency that is now being given to this matter does not evaporate. The Commission has long recognized the need for a solution to be found and I believe that the conditions are now ripe for this.
I look forward to hearing your comments.
A state-of-the-art accepted supervisory framework for both credit institutions and investment firms is important for the financial stability of the European market and in creating a level playing field, not just within the European Union, but across the global financial community compared to those countries also following the Basel II process.
Our proposal has been prepared in close cooperation with Member States and the finance industry and was subject to extensive consultation. It is in line with the Basel II Accord, but takes account of European specificities where necessary. Even the latest proposals for the treatment of trading-related activities will be included.
This proposal provides a regulatory framework for financial activities in the EU. It improves the supervisory regime currently in place, which is primarily based on regulatory capital requirements. The new regime will have a solid basis of three pillars. Firstly, more risk-sensitive regulatory capital requirements, which are closer in line with banks’ own practices; secondly, an enhanced supervisory review process to ensure a closer fit of these new requirements; and, thirdly, disclosure requirements which improve transparency and market discipline. This proposal represents a move to an altogether more sophisticated and refined approach to supervision and risk management.
By adopting this proposal, the EU will be the first international organization to implement the new Basel II framework. This will be a major step towards better banking supervision and will foster greater effectiveness of the European financial markets.
Let me now turn to the comitology issue. As we all know, this debate is linked to the wider question of the powers of the Council and the European Parliament in the comitology procedures. We need to make sure that the legislative process does not come to a halt. I do not believe that our citizens and the industry would understand that important legislative proposals, such as those on the table today, are taken hostage on account of an issue such as comitology – important as it may be.
We need to find a pragmatic way to ensure a smooth legislative conclusion to the comitology provisions in the Capital Requirements Directive. I welcome the efforts made by the European Parliament and the Council to find agreement on this issue. I think we all agree that adoption in first reading of this directive is in the interest of all three institutions and it is also what the marketplace wants.
Comitology being a general issue, we must look at it in its general context. The Commission submitted a proposal for a modification of the 1999 Comitology Decision in 2002, followed by an amended proposal in 2004. This proposal already took into account important elements requested by the European Parliament, in particular that the European Parliament and the Council should be put on an equal footing as regards their powers in the comitology procedures.
It is in large part thanks to the persistence of Parliament, and of your rapporteur in particular, that the Council will now take up work on revising the Comitology Decision, using the Commission’s revised proposal as a basis."@en1
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