Brussels, 06/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - The coordinators of the committee on economic and monetary affairs (ECON) of the European Parliament have written to the President of the institution, Martin Schulz, stating that the majority of the political groups are in favour of giving the portfolio of the British Commissioner, Jonathan Hill, who is stepping down, to the Vice-President with responsibility for the Euro, Valdis Dombrovskis. This was reported by a number of sources on Wednesday 6 July.
On Wednesday morning, Valdis Dombrovskis took part in an exchange of views with the members of the ECON committee, which appeared to be basically a formality, as he already had overall responsibility for Hill's dossiers in his capacity as Vice-President of the Commission. Even so, the MEP Fabio De Masi (GUE/NGL, Germany) expressed misgivings regarding the workload that will devolve to the Vice-President, but this has been rebalanced by handing over certain dossiers to the Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Pierre Moscovici (see other article).
Valdis Dombrovskis said that he sets great store by continuity. For instance, he pledged to continue his predecessor's work on creating a Capital Markets Union (CMU). Brexit makes the case for a Capital Markets Union even stronger. This union is necessary, “especially if the biggest financial capital market of Europe will move outside of the EU”. “I cannot agree that the British referendum is the end of CMU; we need it even more”, he said.
In answer to a question from Pervenche Bérès (S&D, France), the Commission Vice-President explained that the question of the financial sector passport would depend largely on the model of the relationship the UK will build with the EU. This passport allows financial service providers established legally in a member state to set up shop and provide their services in other member states without prior authorisation. This passport “is linked to the country being within the EU internal market”, the Vice-President explained. Being in the internal market brings with it obligations, particularly that of accepting the four fundamental freedoms. “The financial services sector will be among those most affected by any change in the EU's relationship with the UK”, he warned.
There was a shared interest among the political groups in the 'call for evidence' that the Commission is carrying out regarding the regulatory framework set in place in recent years in the field of financial services. Germany's Burkhard Balz (EPP), Kay Swinburne (ECR, UK) and Paul Tang (S&D, Netherlands) questioned him aon this point. The Commission is looking at overlaps and inconsistencies between the various legislation, Dombrovskis explained, adding that the responses to the call for evidence have allowed three trends to emerge. The framework is not entirely proportionate, it may weigh negatively on the available funding and the cost of compliance is excessive.
“If you go back to the position of the EP, we don't just address the inconsistencies and overlaps, we ask the European Commission to look for gaps and loopholes”, Tang pointed out. This is part of the mandate, Dombrovskis confirmed, adding for instance that this is why the Commission will return later in the year with a proposal for a resolution mechanism for the central counterparties.
As regards the proposal for a structural reform of banks, which has struggled to make its way through the legislative pipeline, the Vice-President explained that he was soon to meet EP negotiators to discuss the situation and see whether they should move forward, whilst acknowledging the need to tackle the issue of systemic banks that are “too big to fail”. (Original version in French by Elodie Lamer)