Brussels, 05/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, chaired by German Social Democrat Christa Randzio-Plath, will have the opportunity, at its first meeting of the year on the afternoon of 8 January, to hold a discussion with Commissioner Frits Bolkestein on the progress of the EU's work on financial services. Members will particularly be discussing with the Commissioner the follow-up to the interim report by the Committee of Wise Men (chaired by Alexandre Lamfalussy) on securities regulation in the EU (see EUROPE of 27/28 November, page 11, for more on the conclusions adopted by the Ecofin Council on this first report). The final report of the Committee of Wise Men is due out in mid-February and the Council will be examining the recommendations it contains at its meeting on 12 March, thus enabling the Stockholm European Council on 23 and 24 March to approve measures to encourage the development of an integrated EU financial market (one of the priorities of the Swedish Presidency). MEPs, particularly Mrs Randzio-Plath, are known to have expressed concerns about the influence the European Parliament will be able to exert in future on financial services legislation, since the Committee of Wise Men is proposing entrusting the details of such legislation to a new securities committee. It will be recalled that Mr Lamfalussy has already had an exchange of views on this subject with the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (see EUROPE of 29 December, page 8 for Mr Lamfalussy's comments to the Financial Times).
On Tuesday, the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs will be discussing reports by: - Werner Langen (EPP, Germany) on services of general interest in Europe; - Udo Bullmann (Social Democrat, Germany) on the coordination of economic policies with a view to the Stockholm European Council (the first summit following up on the Lisbon European Council); - Karl von Wogau (EPP, Germany) on the Annual Economic Report 2000. The EP Committee will also be holding an initial exchange of views on the Annual Report (for 2001) on convergence and stability.