Brussels, 09/09/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, the European Parliament (EP) will decide in plenary whether or not to endorse the draft legislation to introduce a single banking supervision system.
MEPs are putting pressure on the European Central Bank for it to provide them with minutes of meetings of the supervisory committee to be set up when the ECB becomes the single bank supervisor in the eurozone in the autumn of 2014 (see EUROPE 10888).
As the European bank supervisor, the ECB should be more transparent and accountable to democratic bodies, explained a source at the European Parliament connected with this issue, adding that the EP was not after detailed minutes of the meetings of the supervisory committee and the Governing Council when it decides on the decisions taken by the supervisory committee.
The ECB is keen to preserve its independence and therefore is reluctant to release too much information that could influence the markets, fearing the negative impact of information about the health of a big bank that might be leaked to the press. People at the EP say that safeguards will be put in place to prevent this kind of problem, with strict procedures to ensure the confidentiality and only limited numbers of people having access to the information.
On Monday 9 September, the EP was seeking guarantees from the ECB. The source explained that the MEPs want to ensure that the information they receive is not too vague, but the current compromise gives the ECB too much leeway in terms of the information it is to provide. Inter-institutional talks were under way between the cabinet offices of Mario Draghi of the ECB and Martin Schulz of the EP, in cooperation with the EP rapporteurs on this legislation, Marianne Thyssen (EPP, Belgium) and Sven Giegold (Greens/EFA, Germany).
The question of the bank supervisory system's cooperation with MEPs is particularly controversial in Germany. In a review clause of the draft inter-institutional agreement, the MEPs want a standing group to be set up that has direct access to the discussions of the European supervisory system, like the system in place in Germany between the Bundestag and Bafin. (MB/transl.fl)