Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-04-12-Speech-3-260"
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"en.20000412.10.3-260"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, Commissioner, if I had to point here and now to two complex issues in the economic field, I would no doubt choose the following: the consolidation of the financial markets and the approximation of the direct taxation regulations – specifically tax on savings – which is under discussion.
I do not doubt that we have to speed up the process, Commissioner, but this Parliament is not prepared to relinquish the powers which it has taken so long to acquire. Therefore, one of the first tasks which we will have to undertake together is to find a model which will satisfy both objectives.
With regard to liberalisation, the first of the tasks which the Commission proposes, the Commission starts from one premise: the consolidation of the single market in financial services requires the removal of the barriers which hinder its operation. We could not agree more. The consequence is that, in order for the market to function, these barriers must be removed. Again we agree, but we know that there are difficulties in this approach resulting from the need to reconcile the objective of liberalisation with the objective of protecting investors.
Firstly, the barriers are not identified. Commissioner, it is not sufficient to be able to deduce what they are from the measures proposed by the Commission. Personally, I would have liked to have seen a list of those national measures which, in accordance with the Directive on financial services, are hindering the operation of the market in each country.
Secondly, the solution proposed by the Commission still raises difficulties. It is ridiculous that a financial company has to operate while being subject to, and having to have knowledge of, fifteen different legislations, but it is at least as ridiculous that an investor – especially a non-professional investor – should end up needing to contract services, bound by regulations which he or she does not know, from companies whose solvency is unknown, and, in the event of legal dispute, he or she has to take action in a foreign country, with foreign jurisdiction and procedures.
Liberalisation must therefore be implemented in parallel with the increase in measures relating to control and taxation.
With regard to control measures, we have a new problem: the need to adapt the competence and jurisdictions of authorities which are still national and which, on the whole, apply differing models, to a different world affected by globalisation, international competition and free movement of capital.
Finally, Mr President, my personal conviction is that, if we do not want liberalisation to give rise to distortions in competition and the flight of capital to more beneficial climates inside and outside the Union, the correct operation of the market in financial services will not be possible without a certain degree of approximation of the laws which regulate savings. These are the concerns which are raised in my report. These concerns reflect a constructive attitude towards cooperation with the Commission, which I have always considered to be a loyal ally of this Parliament, in the development of an issue which is so very complex.
The debate which we held recently on the bodies for collective investment in transferable securities and the reactions to the report on pension funds, which we will hear shortly, demonstrate the complexity and importance of these issues. These two issues, the liberalisation of the financial services market and taxation, are dealt with in the action plan which is the subject of my report.
It is therefore appropriate to thank all the groups for their cooperation and confirm once again to the Commission that it can rely on the active cooperation of the European Parliament in the implementation of this plan, and we will not disregard our duties, but exercise them responsibly.
The complexity of the action plan also reflects the ambitious nature of the report presented by the Commission, which contains 43 measures and involves all the sectors in the field (stock exchanges, banks, investment funds, insurance, etc.) and which applies to what has come to be called the ‘new economy’, which is – according to the Lisbon Summit – one of the elements which will help to put an end to unemployment in Europe.
What is included in these measures? What is intended through these measures? In my judgement, to sum up, it is the following: the liberalisation of the financial sectors and the updating of the regulations on supervision and control in order to achieve a European financial market which is at least as competitive as the United States financial market. In the explanatory statement, I offer a detailed comparison of the two types of market.
In order to achieve these two objectives, the Commission proposes a truly arguable and risky formula: the speeding up of the legal process, which, in turn, would involve three actions.
Firstly, a reduction in the standards which need to be included in a regulation or directive, that is to say, which require the participation of this Parliament.
Secondly, limiting those standards to the definition of the general approaches and basic principles which must be established in this field, allowing the Commission the possibility of implementing them.
Thirdly, granting the Commission broad powers of interpretation."@en1
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