A decisive step in the banking revolution. The welcome reserved for Tuesday's European Parliament vote on banking reform proves that the opinion is gaining ground that this is a positive time for European construction - I am not alone in believing this. Some political forces have been quick to state that this reform - which the Parliament had previously negotiated with the Council - represents the most important financial event since the beginning of the global crisis in 2008. EUROPE 10828 gave a summary of the situation.
Discipline imposed on the banks, a ceiling on bonuses paid to speculators, transparency introduced into banking, a battle against tax havens - all this is now in the bag and will be largely operational at the beginning of next year. The effect is positive for the banks themselves, which will be able to focus their work on what is useful for everyone - managing citizens' savings in order to finance the real economy, including small and medium-sized enterprises.
Part of the Parliament wanted even more radical measures, and other initiatives will certainly follow. Yet considerable progress has already been achieved: “Banks will dictate the direction of democracy less”, in the words of Philippe Lamberts MEP.
Germany had previously spoken of the need for institutional changes involving a revision of the Treaty in order to make progress in certain areas. Yet the European Commission contests this idea - if the EU wants to make banking union more tangible it will have to do so with the current treaty, be it with regard to bank restructuring, deposit guarantees or other initiatives which are already under way or are to come.
The financial world - the cause of so many deviations and such injustice - is being transformed before our eyes.
An anomaly to be corrected. The developments above are consolidating the two-speed path towards Europe and they require the Parliament to reflect once again on the repercussions of its work. The eurozone is becoming increasingly autonomous - why should members of parliament in a member state that is not part of the eurozone participate in its management? The issue is not a new one - this column has made mention of it on several occasions. What is new is that the euro countries now believe it's logical and obvious that members of parliament from a state outside the euro should not have a vote on issues that don't concern them. It does indeed seem strange that British MEPs, for example, can determine how the euro is managed.
What is more, MEPs themselves are increasingly realising that this is an anomaly. The Socialist Ms Pervenche Berès, while rejecting austerity policies, has called for “a budgetary capacity to be conferred on the eurozone”, and it would be strange if this capacity was submitted to the vote of MEPs elected outside the eurozone. The Parliament is, of course, aware of this situation and clarity is needed.
Is the Tobin tax an advantage or a disaster? Fresh efforts aimed at burying the Tobin tax, which has been adopted by 11 EU member states, have something apocalyptic about them. We know what it's all about - these countries decided to tax financial transactions in what seems quite a modest. In France, six professional federations (including that of industry, insurance companies and banks) have stated that this tax would lead to a cost of €70 billion in their country and the loss of 30,000 jobs in the near future! And all this would be for absolutely nothing in return because revenue from the Tobin tax would be an illusion.
If I understand correctly, experts in Brussels had estimated that the product of this tax would be €30 billion - including €7 billion for France. The protesters, however, see dangers in it for economic growth, for the financing of businesses, for European financial sovereignty and for the balance of the eurozone. Which side is the deluded one in this affair?
Russian citizens who will become Cypriot? The president of Cyprus has offered Russians who live on the island the opportunity to become its citizens. This is a gesture aimed at compensating what the wealthiest Russians have lost in the banking events that we are all aware of, with the tax imposed on deposits over €100,000. It is not financial compensation - but from what we know about the lives of the Russians who have set up home in Cyprus (see this column in EUROPE 10814) we might be led to believe that Nicos Anastasiadis' offer could meet with some success.
(FR/transl.fl)