Brussels, 06/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - EU Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier issued new warnings to banks about excessive bonus payments in Europe on Tuesday 6 March at a hearing at the French Senate (see EUROPE 10544). He said that the Commission was currently verifying proper application of bonus rules and he was prepared to take further action if required by introducing a maximum percentage of bonus payments as a proportion of salary or between maximum and minimum pay within any one bank. Since January 2011, EU rules require the payment of bonuses to be spread out in time and related to long-term performance, he added.
In the presidential election campaigning in France at the moment, there is much criticism of the fact that all the European Union does is introduce austerity to the detriment of economic growth. In response to such accusations, the commissioner said that spending cuts were necessary and member states could not afford a big, new public spending plan. He said the new budget pact made progress by ensuring the European social model was affordable and by avoiding a new sovereign debt crisis. He said the real question was whether the budget pact and stability and growth pact would be used wisely to combine the necessary budget discipline with coordinated economic policy measures to generate balanced, inclusive, economic growth. (MB/transl.fl)