Brussels, 15/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - On 13 September, the European Parliament's Economic Affairs Committee held a discussion with Arthur Docters Van Leeuwen, President of the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) following a visit to CESR headquarters in Paris by MEPs in April (see EUROPE 8921). Debate focussed on the best way for the CESR to report to MEPs. Van Leeuwen said they should have very similar relations to the CESR's relations with national parliament. He added that an inter-institutional agreement should be reached asap, failing which the CESR would not know how to report to the EU.
Van Leeuwen suggested five ways to boost cooperation with the EP: 1) notifying MEPs of all the Level 3 work mandates under the Lamfalussy approach (four levels of decision-making responsibilities depending on the type of legislation being adopted); 2) submitting to MEPs all important documents published by CESR and submitted to the Commission and Council; 3) drafting regular detailed reports for the EP on CESR activities and progress in terms of convergence in market monitoring; 4) informing MEPs of any key problems with legislative impact; and 5) attending at least two annual hearings at the EP.
Arthur Docters Van Leeuwen also discussed changes at the CESR, which is becoming more operational. He expressed dissatisfaction with the current trend to reduce the burden on key players since not enough attention is being paid to protecting investors (the role of regulators). French Socialist MEP Pervenche Beres, President of the European Parliament's Economic Affairs Committee, followed suit, adding that the current self-regulation trend is not necessarily the best solution. She hoped the EP would become a good arena for defining balance. CSU MEP Alexander Radwan responded that the situation is nowhere near de-regulation and it was more important to avoid an increase in red tape. Dutch Socialist Ieke van den Burg raised the idea of sending European Parliament officials to attend comitology meetings as observers.
On cross-border clearing and settlements, Van Leeuwen hoped to get a clear view of the European Commission's position before issuing a final opinion on the best way of integrating national markets. In Luxembourg on Tuesday, Charlie McCreevy, European Internal Market Commissioner, warned the financial services industry against excessive cross-border dealing costs (see EUROPE 9026).