Brussels, 06/10/2014 (Agence Europe) - This Tuesday 7 October, Lord Jonathan Hill, commissioner designate for Financial Stability and the Capital Markets Union, will have a second hearing of an hour and a half before the members of the European Parliament, who will be no less exacting than as at his first appearance. The S&D, for instance, is awaiting further clarifications from him and expects him to show greater mastery of his portfolio at this second hearing. The verdict will not be returned until later today or Wednesday.
On Monday, the MEPs received the additional written responses called for by the EP. On the euro-bonds, one of the subjects on which he declined to give his position at his first hearing, the written responses more or less allowed light to be shed. Stating the positions of those both in favour of and opposed to these euro-bonds, Lord Hill explained that it appeared to him "unlikely that a consensus" on the issue can be achieved within the Eurozone at this time. He went on to reiterate what Pierre Moscovici, the commissioner designate for Economic Affairs, told his own hearing, which is that the time was not right for proposals on this front. On the single deposit guarantee regime, another issue on which he sat on the fence at his hearing, Lord Hill asked the MEPs to recognise that even though such a regime was desirable, the political conditions for a change of this kind do not appear to have been met.
There was, however, no concrete response on his earlier activities as a lobbyist, observed Sven Giegold (Greens/EFA, Germany). "It's a shame that Lord Hill has refused again to provide answers" on this, he commented on his website, going on to warn that the Greens would insist on an answer at the hearing. ALDE stressed that although Lord Hill's written answers show developments from those he gave at his first hearing, it will be very interested to hear the answers he gives this Tuesday. The ECR, the Briton's own group, is "confident" that Lord Hill will give more details on the issues related to financial services of interest to the MEPs. Over at the European Commission, it is also felt that his written answers already give quite a few details, also taking account of the fact that Lord Hill is not yet a European Commissioner. The former British MEP Sharon Bowles (ALDE) also warned over the weekend, in the columns of the Financial Times, against any rejection of her fellow Briton, which would spark crisis with London. (EL)