Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-03-14-Speech-3-178"
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I am grateful for this opportunity to develop the Council’s position regarding the proposals contained in the report from the Committee of Wise Men, chaired by Baron Lamfalussy. There has already been a lot of informal contact between Parliament and the Council regarding this issue. I would like to take this opportunity to express the Council’s great appreciation of the work carried out on this matter by Mrs Randzio-Plath as chairperson of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. It has been invaluable for the Council and the presidency to be able to discuss these issues with you on an on-going basis.
The procedures proposed by the Committee of Wise Men for decisions at what are referred to as Level 1 and Level 2 are not actually new. They are based on existing options, i.e. on the comprehensive legislative procedure and on implementation through comitology. Therefore, the basic rules and the effects of these with regard to the issues taken up by Mrs Randzio-Plath in her question are familiar.
Mrs Randzio-Plath wonders how the Council proposes to be able to guarantee balance in the codecision procedure and a large degree of openness. The legal framework with regard to delegating implementation powers is clear in respect of the Treaty, the Council’s 1999 comitology decision, legal practice in the European Court of Justice and the decisions of the legislature when it delegates implementation powers in each particular case. In this regard, the Council and the European Parliament already follow established rules. We are all obliged to follow this legal framework. The codecision procedure enables us to decide jointly for each individual act what will be delegated to comitology and according to which rules. Through the new framework decision of 1999, Parliament is also guaranteed a greater role than ever before, with a large degree of openness also guaranteed.
This new openness benefits, and is important to, the European Parliament, as well as the general public. The European Parliament is guaranteed always to be kept fully informed about the work of the Securities Committee and to receive all documentation linked to it: agendas, proposals for measures, results of votes, minutes of meetings and attendance lists. If Parliament believes that the draft measures put forward by the Commission exceed the implementation powers in the basic instrument, the Commission should immediately re-examine these measures, taking into account as far as possible Parliament’s resolution.
An independent Regulators’ Committee will act as an advisory group to the Commission when drawing up draft implementation measures for the framework principles. For this system to work properly, all the institutions concerned must act in good faith and respect the fundamental conditions for the strategy at various levels as proposed in the report by the Committee of Wise Men.
Mrs Randzio-Plath further urges me to ensure that the Securities Committee does not intervene to make major changes to or block implementation regulations proposed by the Commission and to provide political assurance with regard to the Council’s willingness to speed up its procedures.
I must emphasise the basic constitutional difference between the Council as an institution and a committee for comitology, which comprises representatives of the Member States themselves, and not of the Council. This difference is important and, as everyone knows, forms the basis for the whole structure of the comitology. I would like to stress that the Securities Committee’s main task will be to assist the Commission in exercising the powers delegated to it in accordance with the procedure for decisions on comitology. With regard to the Council, I would like to repeat my previous comment that all institutions concerned will need to act in good faith and respect the fundamental conditions in the report by the Committee of Wise Men.
The structure proposed in the Lamfalussy report respects the codecision procedure and the institutional symmetry set out in the Treaty. Therefore the Council believes that there is no need for a further institutional framework in this area.
I would also like to say that the ECOFIN Council has a positive attitude towards the idea of establishing an interinstitutional monitoring system to evaluate the development towards an integrated financial market and to identify bottlenecks. Regular reports could be presented to the European Parliament and the Council as part of this monitoring process. In addition, the extensive and open review proposed for 2004 will make it possible for us to assess how the system works and remedy any deficiencies.
As I said, on 12 March, the ECOFIN Council welcomed the report and the proposed strategy of four levels and made good progress in setting the general rules for solving institutional and organisational issues which may arise from the strategy. However, some questions remain regarding relations between the Council, the Commission and the European Parliament in conjunction with particular acts and the establishment of the Regulators’ Committee.
The ECOFIN Council urged continued work on these issues and I hope, as I said in my introduction, that we will be able to reach an overall solution as soon as possible.
As you no doubt know, the ECOFIN Council discussed the proposals in the Lamfalussy report at its meeting on 12 March 2001. The Council welcomed the report, but the discussions will continue. A new ECOFIN Council meeting will take place immediately before the European Council in Stockholm. The presidency aims to reach an agreement as soon as possible.
The Council believes that the operation of the financial markets is of considerable significance to increased growth in the economy. This makes it even more natural to discuss this issue in conjunction with the European Council in Stockholm, one of the aims of which is to modernise the European economy.
It is vital to growth and increased employment that the financial markets be cost-effective in brokering capital between savings and investments, handling payment systems and distributing risk. At the same time, we must ensure that the markets provide good consumer protection and that they are stable.
The financial markets and the venture capital markets in the EU must be integrated and made more efficient. The action plans for financial services and venture capital provide a good foundation for achieving these particular targets regarding integration and efficiency. The focus is on fully implementing the action plan. In order to keep to the timetable, we must put in the efforts required now.
As we see it, it is therefore necessary for the institutions concerned
the Member States to jointly review the legislative process in the financial area and exploit its opportunities more effectively, so that important and necessary decisions can be taken more quickly.
The Council believes that the Community legislation regulating the securities market
contain a measure of flexibility in order to address development and create a competitive common market which is receptive to new international trends. The legislative process must be speeded up, but the limits of the Treaty must, of course, be respected. This can and must be achieved while, at the same time, fully respecting the provisions of the Treaty, the rights of the institutions concerned and the existing balance between them.
The Council largely supports the four levels which the Committee of Wise Men proposes in order to make the regulation process more flexible within the framework of the current Treaty.
I do not wish to comment today on the operational details of the future European Securities Committee. I would just like to emphasise that, as I have said, the Council and Member States are aware of the need to speed up the legislative process."@en1
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