Brussels, 07/09/2010 (Agence Europe) - Speaking on Tuesday 7 September on the subject of the political agreement in principle on the legislative financial oversight package reached by the European Parliament and Council last week (EUROPE 10207), Belgian Finance Minister Didier Reynders said they would keep to the agreement reached. He went on to add that it is important to reach such an agreement with the EP in order to allow the new financial architecture to be set in place on 1 January 2011. The need for stricter financial oversight was one of the most important lessons learned by Europe from the financial crisis, he said. Although Tuesday's Ecofin Council did not put the matter to formal vote, no delegations were formally opposed to the compromise text. The United Kingdom nonetheless issued a statement underlining that the choice of the president of the European Central Bank (ECB) as president of the future European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) is clearly not what it would have preferred. Without challenging the authority of Jean-Claude Trichet, it feels this decision sets an unfortunate precedent barring the road to the possibility of a 27-member state institution being presided by a British national. The agreement provides for the president of the ESRB to also be the president of the ECB during the first five years of the new European oversight system, with review of this rule foreseen within three years.
Didier Reynders takes the view that the setting in place of the new European supervisory architecture marks the “beginning of a process” in so far as that architecture will be completed by a “series of texts to allow it to operate properly”. In particular, the ability of the three future European supervisory authorities (ESA) in the banking, insurance and financial markets fields to take binding decisions or ban certain financial products or speculative practices must be included in sector-specific legislation. Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier also took the view that the oversight package should be a framework that is completed “brick by brick”. He pointed out a number of legislative initiatives that the Commission will take in areas such as derivatives and naked short selling (EUROPE 10208), and financial rating agencies. He stressed that everything would be stronger with such a framework, and said by way of conclusion that: “This agreement and the next measures show that the Americans and Europeans have the same, parallel timetable, although they do not always apply the same measures”. (M.B./transl.jl)