19 December 2013

Commissioner Barnier's remarks at the ECOFIN Council press conference

"Progress made in recent days on the Single Resolution Mechanism and a whole host of financial files is unprecedented. We are introducing revolutionary changes to Europe's financial sector...

I have now delivered 28 proposals to better regulate, supervise, and govern the financial sector and a more integrated, less fragmented single market. So that taxpayers no longer foot the bill when banks make mistakes. Ending the era of massive bail-outs. And in the eurozone, for those countries which are more interdependent, creating the Banking Union to break the vicious circle between banks and their sovereigns. How? By centralising the delivery of EU-wide rules for the eurozone.

But these rules are not only about dealing with today's crisis and avoiding a future crisis. They are also essential to create long-lasting financial stability: the pre-condition so banks can lend to the real economy. To consolidate the economic recovery. For sustainable jobs and growth.

Most of these rules are either now already in force or in the final stages of negotiation between the Council and the European Parliament. Tremendous progress has been made in the last few days."

(...)

But we are not at the end of the road. In particular on the SRM. Far from it. Negotiations will now start with the European Parliament in the New Year. The ECON Committee adopted its position yesterday thanks to the hard work of rapporteur Elisa Ferreira.

Both sides are committed to Banking Union. So compromise is possible. But it is also true both sides are far apart on some key points. Flexibility will be needed on both sides to reach an agreement before the Easter break. We can't afford to fail. Citizens would not forgive us if another crisis hit and we remained unprepared.

Full speech

Video of press conference

Translated from the French

In his first intervention at the ECOFIN meeting, he elaborated that the commission was especially still concerned about the following three points:

1. "Decision making within the SRM is too complex with a consultation system that slows down the process unnecessarily. What we are building is a single system and not an intergovernmental network with several floors.
2. We are also concerned by the proposed settlement between the SRM and the joint intergovernmental agreement.
3. Finally, in terms of voting procedures in the Resolution Council, we have made ​​significant progress but there is still work to do. I think at this point we must leave aside the options and work on one text with a balance between several objectives: (a) have an effective system that takes into account the interests of all Member States irrespective of their size without denying their weight and their responsibilities in the system; (b) finding the right distribution of roles between the executive board and the plenary should intervene only for weighty decisions."

Full memo (in French)

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