05 February 2002

Commission welcomes Parliament’s agreement on Lamfalussy proposals for reform

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The European Commission has welcomed the European Parliament’s agreement on the approach to the regulation of European financial markets. After the vote on the von Wogau report, President Prodi said: ‘This vote by the Parliament sends a very positive signal for the goal of making Europe the most competitive economy in the world by 2010 and for our institutional partnership with the Council and the European Parliament. I am looking forward to an acceleration of work in the run up to the Barcelona Summit next month’.

Internal Market Commissioner Frits Bolkestein added: ‘This is a tremendous breakthrough for the creation of an integrated European financial market, and is one that financial markets, investors and regulators have been hoping for. I believe that we have now reached an honourable compromise between our institutions that will re-establish confidence in the efforts that are being made to develop an integrated European financial market by 2005 and an integrated securities and risk capital market by 2003. I am now much more optimistic that we will be able to do the job on time.’

The four-level approach is to work as follows:

Level 1 will consist of legislative acts, namely Directives or Regulations, proposed by the Commission following consultation with all interested parties and adopted under the ‘co-decision’ procedure by the Council and the European Parliament, in accordance with the EC Treaty. In adopting each Directive or Regulation, the Council and the Parliament will agree, on the basis of a Commission proposal, on the nature and extent of detailed technical implementing measures to be decided at Level 2.

At Level 2, the European Securities Committee, the future regulatory committee, will assist the Commission in adopting the relevant implementing measures. Such measures will be used to ensure that technical provisions can be kept up to date with market developments.

Level 3 measures will have the objective of improving the common and uniform implementation of Level 1 and 2 acts in the Member States. The Committee of European Securities Regulators will have particular responsibility for this.

At Level 4, the Commission will strengthen the enforcement of Community law.

See full Commission press release

© European Commission