Presenting the priorities of the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union to MEPs, Tánaiste Simon Harris underlined the Member States’ determination to reach, “in October”, a political agreement in principle on the ‘MISP’ package reforming the architecture and supervision of financial markets, so that the co-legislators are in a position to finalise the interinstitutional negotiations before the end of 2026 (see EUROPE 13907/1).
With the approach that the ‘MISP’ package “is the Irish Presidency’s main dossier”, Mr Harris felt that there was no point in postponing the deadlines, as this would not guarantee a better outcome in the Council of the EU. He assured MEPs that the Irish authorities were giving themselves the means to reach an agreement by scheduling 16 technical meetings by October, the same number as in the first half of the year under the Cyprus Presidency.
Asked about the substance by Markus Ferber (EPP, German) and Giovanni Crosetto (ECR, Italian), the Irish minister took the view that any agreement “must add value, be clearly justified, should not add cost, should be proportionate and targeted”. There are possible “landing zones”, he argued, noting that some countries sometimes tend to focus first on the supervision of financial entities, whereas the package is also intended to facilitate market integration.
But according to Mr Harris, there will be no “big bang moment” in the way the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) operates.
Flexibility of the Stability Pact. Claire Fita (S&D, French) asked the minister whether the increased flexibility in the Stability and Growth Pact, which will allow Member States to support households and businesses most affected by the surge in energy prices caused by the war in the Middle East, will chiefly benefit EU countries with fiscal room for manoeuvre (see EUROPE 13880/5).
“There can be no economic security without energy security,” Mr Harris noted, calling both for investment in decarbonising the economy to reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels and for public finances sustainability to be kept in mind. This underlines “the need to put in place the Savings and Investments Union”, he argued.
By the end of July, the European Commission should finalise its note on the arrangements for Member States to activate, from September, the national escape clause of the Stability Pact, with the aim of facilitating emergency fiscal measures in the energy sector.
According to our information, these measures will have to help strengthen energy security, reduce dependence on fossil fuels, increase electricity storage capacity and increase low-carbon energy production capacity. Electricity generation from nuclear power should therefore be permitted. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)