Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-10-21-Speech-2-087"
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"en.20081021.7.2-087"2
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"I would just like very briefly to answer the question put to me by Mr Rasmussen. I must also ask to be excused, as I have to be at the press conference. The Commission will be represented by Commissioner Almunia.
As I said in my previous remarks, no area of the financial markets will be absent from our review. I really want to thank you for the contribution that you personally – and many Members of the European Parliament – made in your report. We will look at all these options. As President Sarkozy has just said, we want to lead this global effort. We believe that we can put some of those proposals into effect before Christmas, as you asked, but some are technically very delicate. We will take a decision and will feed into the international debate on all those matters, but I believe it is also important to have technically sound proposals. I am sure you have noticed that we have made everything that has been agreed with Ecofin – the financial road map – available to you. It is not accurate to say that we have not legislated in financial services under this Commission. Thirty-two legislative measures adopted under codecision or comitology have been adopted in the area of financial services since the beginning of this Commission, of which 19 were under codecision. There will be several more in the coming weeks and months, starting with the proposal on rating agencies early next month.
Let me give you an example about rating agencies. Let us be very open about this. I personally spoke with several governments several times about the need for regulation on rating agencies. The response was a definite ‘no’. This is true. That is why I ask you – some of those who criticise the Commission: maybe you can use some of your influence in your own governments or the parties that are in your governments. That would be most helpful because, in fact, some months ago when we discussed this – and in this area Commissioner McCreevy was in favour of regulation for the notation agencies – the most ambitious proposal that some governments were considering was a code of conduct.
You may say that is all very well and the Commission has the right to do this. That is true, but in financial services matters, things are not – as you know – as they are in many other matters. When we were in a crisis – and the peak of the crisis was in September this year (but since August of last year we have had this road map) – we were, in fact, strongly advised by many in our governments not to put forward proposals that could raise the level of alarm or create a kind of alarm reflex. This is a matter in which I believe the Commission has to be prudent. In the very sensitive issues concerning financial markets we cannot have empty announcement effects. We cannot just make proclamations. It is very important in this matter to maintain coordination between Parliament, Commission and Council. I would say that in the European Commission we are, by definition, in favour of a European dimension in regulation and in supervision. I say this very frankly. If the Commission does not often make proposals that you have rightly put forward, it was not always because we were sleeping or because there was an ideological bias. It was because analysis of the situation showed that the possibility of achieving them was zero, or close to zero. Very honestly, this is something I want to tell you. We will have time to look at all the causes and all the stages of this process, but I think this is important for you to know in the debate.
Quite frankly, two weeks ago some of our governments were still saying that we did not need a European response. Perhaps you noticed that I published an article in the European press asking – pleading – for a European response, and some of our governments were saying, ‘No, we can do it at national level. We do not need a European dimension’. So let us try to act collectively. Let us look at ourselves critically, as we all need to do, but let us try to avoid a simplistic response to a very complex issue. We are ready to work constructively with the European Parliament and the Council in order to find good solutions for Europe and, possibly, for the rest of the world."@en1
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