Brussels, 14/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - "The Council of Governors is strongly committed to the total completion of the single market for banking services with fair rules and no differentiation between the nationalities at play", reiterated the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Jean-Claude Trichet, in answer to a question from CSU MEP Alexander Radwan on the Fazio case (see EUROPE 9018 for more about the implication of the Governor of the Banca d'Italia in the blocking of the takeover bid made by ABN Amro of the Netherlands for Antoveneta). Mr Trichet simply replied that he had "undertaken dialogue" with the Italian central bank, stressing the need for "the closest possible cooperation between the various competent authorities". With the ECB Council of Governors meeting in Frankfurt on 15 September, Mr Trichet pledged that the ECB intended to "have its say", even though it is ultimately "not responsible", because "the authority for this lies at national level".
The President of the ECB also confirmed that he had received a letter from the Italian Finance Minister, Domenico Siniscalco, on Wednesday, asking for the ECB's feelings about the bill to reform Banca Italia. He told Enrico Letta (ALDE, Italy) that he could not "pre-empt the position of the Council of Governors", which would return its opinion on this reform "as soon as possible". Mr Trichet did however say that a "limited duration for the mandate[of the President of the Bank of Italy] is clearly in line with world and European consensus". As for the application of this new provision to Antonio Fazio, Mr Trichet went off at something of a tangent, emphasising the danger of creating a precedent which would be harmful to the independence of central banks, if it was accepted that the Governor could be ousted simply by changing the texts. We should "respect the provisions of the treaty and apply a minimum duration in the future", he said.