On Tuesday 11 September, the members of the European Parliament adopted, by a considerable majority (564 votes to 71 and 49 abstentions), the draft own-initiative report by Brian Hayes (EPP, Ireland) on relations between the European Union and third countries on regulating and supervising financial services.
This is a particularly hot topic, as the equivalence decision – which determines that the financial legislation of a third country is equivalent to that of the EU – is likely to be the tool that will govern future relations with the United Kingdom.
“This report is not about Brexit”, the rapporteur reiterated throughout the negotiations and once again during the debate proceeding the vote. The report (see EUROPE 12060) identifies areas for improvements in the existing framework and also calls upon the Commission to adopt a structured and cross-cutting framework for all equivalence procedures.
One new thing has been added in terms of transparency: the MEPs are calling for the Commission to make equivalence decisions through delegated acts rather than implementing acts, as they consider that the political nature of these decisions justifies the European Parliament's involvement.
At the Commission, the report was welcomed. The institution acknowledges that improvements are necessary and, as regards transparency, states that it is prepared to visit Parliament regularly and keep the MEPs “closely informed” whenever it grants equivalence to a third country. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)