Brussels, 02/07/2001 (Agence Europe) - Following in the footsteps of EUROCHAMBRES (see EUROPE of 29 June, p.18), the European Association of Cooperative Banks (EACB) welcomed the 'changes of timetable and concept' announced by the Basle Committee for Banking Supervision to the new capital adequacy accord (see EUROPE of 27 June, p. 11). According to Hervé Guider, Secretary General of the EACB (the umbrella body for around 4,500 cooperative banks in Europe), "the choices made are pointing in the right direction" and "credit to small and medium-sized enterprises will probably be treated more favourably. Mr Hervé sees the launch of a new consultation round as very positive, but feels that "the credit risk is overcalibrated" in the current consultation document. The "effects will be particularly acutely felt in medium and lower risk categories into which SMEs fall" and he stressed that "as far as interbank transactions are concerned, cooperative banks' own guarantee schemes should also be taken into consideration in that they contribute to systemic stability". The full position statement can be found at the following Internet address: http: //http://www.gebc.org/download.html .