Brussels, 21/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - EU Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier said on Wednesday 21 March 2012 that, together with EU Industry Commissioner Antonio Tajani and Euro Commissioner Olli Rehn, he would be publishing a Green Paper on funding for the real economy - news welcomed by Left-leaning MEPs on the European Parliament's economic and monetary affairs committee.
Anni Podimata (S&D, Greece) thanked the commissioner for the news, saying it was a matter of urgency given the situation in the economy. In Greece, for example, there is a credit crunch and companies are going bankrupt because of cash-flow crises, but she regretted that the Green Paper would not be able to introduce any speedy or tangible solutions and wondered whether there weren't other ways of getting funding flowing again in the real economy, ensuring the ECB cash actually gets to small businesses, for example. Philippe Lamberts (Greens/EFA, Belgium) said the first thing to do to get funding to the real economy is to close down the casino and not leave the door ajar, referring to high-speed transactions automatically carried out on the markets by computers to maximise profits without caring what the impact of the deals is on the wider world.
The Green Paper should encourage a public debate, explained Barnier, who called for an EU growth initiative and suggested ways of encouraging investment, namely financing big infrastructure projects in fields such as energy and telecoms to help move towards a green economy, which is not talked about very often, and which costs money and will not generate income in the immediate term. In response to Podimata, he said that various measures, not necessarily regulatory in nature, could be used very fast, such as shifting the EU Structural Funds to focus on small business, making greater use of the EIB and introducing project bonds (potentially a matter of months, he said).
Retail banking. Describing current work on new financial rules, the commissioner said that a focus this year was protection of retail banking customers, saying he did not believe in self-regulation on the markets. After a consultation exercise opened last week (see EUROPE 10578), the Commission will unveil draft legislation to improve bank charge transparency, make it easier to move from one bank to another and help people open basic bank accounts.
CDS. Pascal Canfin (Greens/EFA, France) called for EU regulations to be introduced for issuers of credit default swaps (insurance contracts against the risk of countries defaulting on their debts). He said the purchase of CDS is already regulated, but not their sale. Commenting on Greece, he said that it was not clear whether the operators selling CDS were actually capable of paying out. He suggested six-monthly stress tests on issuers of CDS to see whether they would be able to honour the contracts in the event of a credit event. Barnier admitted that there was a danger of not being capable of redeeming CDS, saying that he had asked the European Securities and Markets Authority to examine the issue.
French EPP MEP Sophie Auconie thanked Barnier for the measures to promote social entrepreneurship through an EU label (see EUROPE 10511) and called for a genuine EU social investment programme, with tax incentives and other financial solidarity measures. Barnier said that this approach had been tested in the United Kingdom, where cash held in dormant bank accounts can be used to help the voluntary sector. (MB/transl.fl)