Brussels, 14/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - Sylvie Goulard (ALDE, France) is not ruling out the possibility that the text leading to a reform of the structure of the banking sector could be withdrawn.
“We are facing the risk of legislation everybody pretends to accept the principle of, as long as their own banks can get round it. All options are therefore on the table, including the withdrawal of the text. This would doubtless be better than some cobbled-together compromise”, the MEP told an interview with the French daily newspaper Les Échos published on Tuesday 13 October (our translation).
Acknowledging the fact that French banks could be the “main victims” of the proposed regulation aiming to prevent excessive risk-taking in investment activities from endangering the retail activities of a bank, Goulard questions the relevance of a text which fails to take account of the creation of banking union in the eurozone or international discussions on the total loss-absorbing capacity ('TLAC') of major systemic banks. The text also risks putting European banks in a position of competitive disadvantage compared to their American competitors. The MEP warned against the political temptation to “separate the good from the bad to look good to the general public” and to believe that all problems can be resolved “with mathematical formulae”.
The EPP and S&D groups are holding negotiations in secret to bring their positions on this dossier closer together and to prevent the draft 'Hökmark' report from being rejected by the parliamentary committee on economic and monetary affairs once again (see EUROPE 11382 and 11322). (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)