Gödöllõ, 08/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - At their meeting on Friday 8 April near Budapest, the EU27 finance minsiters examined a draft conclusions document on commodity markets and futures, to be formally adopted next month. In the draft, which EUROPE has seen, the ministers say suitable regulation is required to discern and prevent abuse of the market, and take note of the European Commission's plan to include mechanisms to restrict holdings of certain commodities in its forthcoming review of the EU directive on market instruments (MiFID). This is of particular interest to France, which has made the issue one of its priorities during its current chairing of the G20. The draft conclusions document points out that there is increasing speculation on the commodity markets, including the oil and farm products markets. The ministers say that regulations to increase transparency must not prevent the proper functioning of the markets. The conclusions document will set the tone in the current negotiations on the draft derivatives legislation and future talks on changes to the MiFID and market abuse directives. (M.B./transl.fl)