Brussels, 11/02/2003 (Agence Europe) - On Monday the Ecofin Council is expected to adopt the decision to set up a Financial Services Committee (FSC) responsible for analysing movements on the financial markets (if the Ecofin meeting is not postponed due to the European Summit on Iraq). This committee will be in charge of providing recommendations to the Council and Commission and will help the Economic and Financial Committee. It will consist of a representative of Ministers from a Member State and the Commission. The European Central Bank will have observer status.
This will involve the first decision ten since the Council launched (during its informal meeting in Oviedo last year), a reflection on financial stability in the EU and the application of the "Lamfalussy method" in the banking, insurance and pensions sectors. Last December, the Council adopted conclusions on the structure of the committees, which will be in charge of financial regulation and monitoring (see EUROPE 5 December p 8).
Parliament is, nevertheless, worried about the hasty approach of the Council and is insisting that its legislative prerogatives be respected. In two resolutions adopted last November on the basis of the reports by Ieke van den burg and Christa Randzio-Plath, Parliament considered that it would be necessary, in effect, to improve financial monitoring at a Community level but that time was needed to put the best structures into place (see EUROPE 22 November p 14).
While awaiting the Council's decision, the Chairman of the Economic and Monetary Committee at the European Parliament, Social Democrat, Christa Randzio-Plath, pointed out in a communiqué that, "the European Parliament had not yet decided on the possibility of enlarging the Lamfalussy method and on the contrary, is "totally opposed to "the new financial services committee defining policies". This is not the role of a technical committee but the joint task of Parliament, the Commission and the Council". Randzio-Plath also reiterated the resolutions of the EP, that she considered that it would be desirable to first of all analyse the results of the "Lamfalussy method" in the area of stock exchanges before applying it to other sectors. The Council has provided assurances that the Financial Services Committee will not have the job of defining policy but will simply provide "recommendations".