19 April 2005

ECON meeting on Clearing and Settlement

The Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee held a discussion on the amendments posed on the report on Clearing and Settlement that was taken over by Ms Kauppi. Although some 184 amendments have been made so far, the new rapporteur said that the differences, particularly those posed by Ms van den Burg, Ms Starkeviciute, and Mr Klinz, are generally not that big and leave plenty of room for compromises. However, amendments posed by the chair of ECON, Ms Beres, are less exactable although the discussion issues are good for compromise. Ms Kauppi will send a list of comments to the amendments among Committee members in the next days.

Ms Kauppi confirmed that she intends not to ask the Commission for legislation in her report but wants to leave open the possibilities for further action. She also said that she will not support the idea to take into consideration the former ECON Andria report. She also asked the Commission for further information resulting from the impact study if already available. She was especially interested in observations whether the Commission has already identified parts that demand further legislation or if the Commission considers that everything should be left to market forces.

However, some MEPs doubted whether there is enough information already available to decide if further legislation is needed and asked to postpone a final decision.

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