Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-11-20-Speech-3-293"
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"en.20021120.8.3-293"2
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"Mr President, I would like first of all to congratulate the rapporteur, Mrs van den Burg, for the excellent work she has done in preparing this report on the future of financial regulation in Europe, which is such a complicated and controversial subject.
I would like to emphasise that after the global economic downturn which started through the collapse of the new technology market, what was stunningly shown in the United States was the danger of
regulation in a booming market. Would the financial accounting scandals have occurred had regulation been as intensive as it is now? I wager it would not. Of course this question can be countered by asking whether it would have been possible to introduce such strict regulations in a booming market. A booming market has been known to act as a great catalyst to taking liberties with the law and even with honesty. It is perhaps one advantage of the market slump that we have at the moment that we can use this opportunity to introduce the kind of regulation that will stand us in good stead when euphoria takes over in the financial markets again, as it inevitably will.
One can ask whether the down-turn would have been as steep had we not had wave after wave of revelations about the lack of internal controls and external oversight. Again, one would say no, but now is the time to strengthen the rules for when the good times return, in a reversal of the fat cows, lean cows story.
I am not arguing in favour of heavy-handed regulation nor for regulation that goes against the spirit of the internal market or the financial services action plan. I am quite sure that the vast majority of Parliamentarians are in favour of creating a single market in financial services in Europe, as we have shown over the past couple of years in the various positions adopted on financial services action plan legislation. I do not share some of my colleagues' compunctions about a European regulator. I do not see that the Securities and Exchange Commission has done any harm in the United States.
There is much evidence, including the Gyllenhammar report, supporting the benefits of a unified financial market and showing that the integration of the financial services market in Europe would bring substantial economic benefits. That is only to be expected. Anything that would prop up the investment process in our economy is bound to bring financial benefits because we are so weak in this area. According to the report, gains could be in the region of at least half a percentage point per annum in additional economic growth. One could also call upon the evidence of the results of the new survey published only last week by the Commission, which suggested that total European employment could increase by half a percentage point over the next decade as a result of financial markets integration.
One must accept that increased integration increases the responsibilities of the European institutions to actually discover the best form of regulation, to consult as thoroughly as possible, to implement and interpret legislation as consistently as possible and, when problems arise, to be flexible. So far, I fear that under the new Lamfalussy procedures there is not sufficient evidence that the Commission has been operating according to these consultation principles. Lack of initial consultation over the draft market abuse directive and last minute changes to the draft of the investment services directive are not good signs. I would argue, therefore, that we must be very cautious in extending the Lamfalussy procedures to other financial services fields. We must have time and the proper analysis of how the process has been functioning. The institutional monitoring group on the Lamfalussy procedure has not yet produced their first report. Under these circumstances I am against any hurried extension of the Lamfalussy procedure."@en1
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