Brussels, 01/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 1 December, the committee on economic and monetary affairs of the European Parliament decided to extend the mandates of the three chairs of the European financial supervisory authorities, for five years.
Italy's Andrea Enria, Steven Maijoor of the Netherlands and Portugal's Gabriel Bernardino have been the chairs of the European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) respectively, since they were set up in 2011.
These European authorities, which have considerable regulatory powers in the financial field and are responsible for resolving conflicts between the national authorities, are short of funding, 60% of which comes from the member states and 40% out of the EU budget. This situation raises the question of their independence, a European Commission report recognises (see EUROPE 11135).
The parliamentary committee's decision will be confirmed in December at the plenary session of the European Parliament. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)