Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-07-03-Speech-1-073"
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"en.20060703.14.1-073"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs thought it necessary, at this stage, to put an oral question on the state of discussions concerning mergers and acquisitions developments around Europe’s stock exchanges.
Then, I will draw your attention to the questions of supervision and corporate governance. We can in fact see that a merger between the New York Stock Exchange and Euronext could be to the detriment of any European governance.
I said Europe’s stock exchanges because we in this Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs have for many years now been working for the construction, consolidation and integration of a European financial market, and I think the question we are faced with today is really whether or not there should be European stock exchanges. We as legislators cannot in fact be interested in every segment of the financial market, since this question, no doubt the most fundamental, is solely a matter of strategy for the market players. The issue lies beyond that: it is an issue of public interest that the legislator needs to take hold of and to which the Commission, as the holder of the legislative initiative, cannot remain indifferent.
The situation of the stock exchanges today reminds me of the history of the euro, and I want to draw your attention here to something we all need to remember: without political intervention, that is if it had been left to market forces alone, the euro would not exist today, or else it would be quite different from what it now is: a currency that inspires confidence, that is shared by so many Member States and that so many Member States aspire to adopt.
What we need for the stock exchanges is a solution in the same spirit as the euro: a solution whose conception goes beyond mere market forces and market logic. From this point of view, Commissioner, you who have the law-making initiative have a tremendous responsibility. That is something, of course, that you share with Mrs Kroes, who has her own responsibilities in the field of competition.
What concerns observers and many parliamentarians today, however, is that the Commission, despite its power of initiative, remains content to arbitrate between opposing interests, analysing market situations and assessing the chances of getting a text passed in the Council, instead of trying to rise above all that and take a European perspective.
From this point of view I believe we must follow the negotiations about stock exchange restructuring very closely because there is one point, Commissioner, and you are as aware of this as I am, that very much determines the state of those negotiations: it is not what happens on the securities market, but what happens in the back office – a question that has been before the Commission for years.
A number of us in Parliament thought we ought to deal with the back office at the same time as talking about the market. Some, because it corresponded to their market strategy, wanted to keep the two separate. They now have the text on the market and think that competition ought to reign supreme in the back office. Some of the questions raised will not, however, be resolved by market forces alone, because the market cannot take everyone’s interests into account.
Last time this Parliament expressed an opinion on this subject, it said it was waiting for an impact study before deciding whether a legislative initiative was necessary. That impact study is in your hands, Commissioner, but you have not yet allowed us to see it. The wildest rumours are circulating, suggesting that you might go so far as to amend the text of that impact study before reporting to us on it. I think this debate will allow you to enlighten us on all these points, Commissioner.
My colleagues will be addressing other matters. There are nevertheless two points to which I would again like to draw your attention in conclusion. First the consequences of the following decisions at European level, consequences that have not been thought through or anticipated: one, the quotation of the stock markets; two, the withdrawal of the institutional investors – the big banks and insurance companies – which will have been the first to make their profits, leaving the door open for what are called the hedge funds to be the main players on the European stock exchanges."@en1
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