The Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union expressed its disappointment at the simplification proposals presented by the European Commission concerning the ‘retail investment’ legislative package, at a meeting of European finance ministers held in Brussels on Tuesday 13 May. Warsaw is questioning the relevance of continuing the inter-institutional negotiations (‘trilogue’) on this legislative proposal, which it already intended to re-examine in depth last December (see EUROPE 13543/22).
“[The simplification] proposals do not provide substantial changes as they would not remove the significant barriers that were broadly discussed. And their implementation would still lead to fragmentation and additional administrative burdens for financial institutions and supervisory authorities”, said Polish Minister Andrzej Domański during the meeting.
And he went on to add: “In our opinion we should all reflect on the future of this proposal and have an honest discussion during the upcoming council meeting whether we should continue working on this file”.
On the first day of negotiations, the co-legislators had given the Commission four weeks to provide a ‘non-paper’ of simplification recommendations (see EUROPE 13602/20).
The European Commissioner for the Savings and Investment Union, Maria Albuquerque, defended the relevance of the ‘non paper’ provided by her departments to the European ministers. “The commission remains committed to reach a balanced outcome in the trilogue. I want to stress again that we will not support a compromise that does not deliver on our objectives”, she declared.
At the European Parliament, the recommendations will be examined by the various political groups on the morning of Wednesday 14 May.
‘FiDA’. A similar informal note had also been requested on another legislative package - crucial for the Union of capital markets - the future framework for access to financial data (‘FiDA’). No recommendations have yet been made, but the European Commission has given assurances that they will be forthcoming.
“We look forward to the next trilogue. We will work constructively towards an agreement, address the concerns related to the regulatory burdens while upholding the objectives of the proposal”, Ms Albuquerque said on Tuesday.
ECB. At the Ecofin Council meeting on Tuesday, ECB Vice-President Luis de Guindos said that the Frankfurt-based monetary institution would be setting up “a high-level working group” to identify ways of simplifying the banking regulatory framework in four areas: - capital structure; - the implementation of ‘Basel III’ prudential standards; - reporting; - supervision.
The experts will work on the basis that their proposals must not alter capital requirements or contribute to “deregulation”, said Mr de Guindos. But we must be aware of regulatory developments in other jurisdictions and “avoid putting European banks at a comparative disadvantage”, he added.
The group’s recommendations are expected by the end of the year, and the ECB’s official proposals at European level by early 2026. (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit with Mathieu Bion)