The European Parliament rapporteurs on the legislative proposal to reform the EU Market Integration and Supervision Package ('MISP') expressed general support on Wednesday 3 June for the objectives pursued by the European Commission (see EUROPE 13766/17). Meeting in Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON), MEPs nevertheless continued the substantive political debate on extending the powers of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) (see EUROPE 13878/33).
Markus Ferber (EPP, German), rapporteur for the main regulation, welcomed several measures aimed at removing obstacles to cross-border activities, while arguing that the text does not deal sufficiently with liquidity fragmentation on European markets.
The MEP also called for a nuanced approach to supervision at EU level, arguing that “centralisation is not an end in itself and is not the right answer everywhere”.
Mr Ferber, however, supported strengthening ESMA’s governance and a more ambitious framework for distributed ledger technology (DLT).
For his part, Eero Heinäluoma (S&D, Finnish), rapporteur for the directive associated with the package, argued for deeper integration of European financial markets and for ESMA to be given broader supervisory powers.
“After 34 years of muddling, it's quite clear we need a new start”, he said, maintaining that regulatory and prudential fragmentation continues to hold back the development of the a single market for capital.
Several MEPs also referred to the ‘Draghi’ and ‘Letta’ reports, which identify this fragmentation as a major obstacle to European competitiveness.
Giovanni Crosetto (ECR, Italian), rapporteur for the regulation on settlement finality, supported efforts to simplify and integrate markets while calling for a gradual implementation of ESMA’s new responsibilities. Mr Crosetto notably warned against the risks of duplicating costs and defended the inclusion of the competitiveness objective in the mandate of the European Supervisory Authorities.
On behalf of the European Commission, the Director-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (DG FISMA), John Berrigan, urged the co-legislators to preserve the ambition of the text in order to support the Savings and Investments Union.
“If we’re serious about a single market for capital, we also need to remove supervisory barriers”, he stressed. Mr Berrigan said he believed that the package constituted a test of credibility for the Union.
MEPs’ amendments to the various texts must be tabled by 16 July, with the European co-legislators aiming to reach agreement on the package by the end of the year. (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)