Plannen voor financieel toezicht in de EU nog steeds op de goede weg (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Jacques de Larosiere, arguably the person who has had the single greatest influence over Europe's plans to overhaul its financial supervision system, has told the European Parliament that the region's plans are still on the track.
The former managing director of the International Monetary Fund and former governor of the Bank of France headed up a high-level group of experts, whose report last February on financial supervision was largely reflected in European Commission proposals put forward last autumn.
Speaking in front of members of parliament's economic and monetary affairs committee on Wednesday (27 January), Mr Larosiere said the subsequent political agreement reached by EU leaders in December should not be viewed as a backdown.
"I think that one can say most of the recommendations that are in our report on the organisation of supervision in Europe are reflected in the compromise of the council [which represents member states]," he told MEPs.
"I think that would have been impossible to achieve three to four years ago," he added. "We shouldn't minimize the achievements of the council."
The Frenchman went on to say he was also impressed by the "momentum" that had been maintained in Brussels, telling MEPs it was now over to them to put their mark on the bloc's legislative plans to prevent future financial crises.
A series of rapporteurs within the parliamentary committee are set to come forward with reports on the proposed financial reforms next month, with the documents set to shape the debate within the legislature.
Watered down?
Mr Larosiere's initial report called for a common rulebook for financial institutions in Europe, and the setting up of a systemic risk board to monitor for the buildup of risks in the bloc's financial system as a whole.
It also set out the need for three supervisory authorities in the banking, insurance and securities sectors, with the power to settle disputes between national supervisors, for instance on whether or not to recapitalise a particular bank.
But a complex appeals system agreed by member states in December that allows governments to challenge decisions made by the three authorities, has led various EU officials to question the bloc's progress.
Following the political agreement, commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said the financial supervision proposals had been "diluted a bit too much", and called on the European Parliament to steer them back closer to the commission's original suggestions.
While generally supportive of the member state agreement, Mr Larosiere also said he was concerned by the erosion of the "binding powers" he had originally envisaged for the European Supervisory Authorities.
"I think honestly that this absence of binding decision making does not go in the direction of credibility for these authorities," he said.