29 January 2008

ECON meeting 29 January

A simplified business environment for companies in the areas of company law, accounting and auditing

Draftswoman: Ieke van den Burg (PSE/NL)

Committee responsible: JURI -  Klaus-Heiner Lehne (EPP/DE)

Consideration of draft opinion

Presenting her draft opinion Ieke van den Burg (PSE/NL) said that she also wants to include the perspectives of investors and that simplification must not erode those stakeholders' legal rights.

Exemptions for SMEs and micro-entities should focus on reducing administrative burdens and costs. Transition periods for companies’ reporting requirements exceeding size thresholds should be lengthened from 2 to probably 5 years.

Jean-Paul Gauzes (EPP/FR) and Othmar Karas (EPP/AT) both stated that a simplification must not lead to oversimplification as this might erode the transparency issues. Mr Karas also questioned if a transitional period of 5 years is really necessary.

Timeline:

7 February: Deadline for amendments

26 February: Discussion and vote in Committee

Draft Opinion

Commission document

EXCHANGE OF VIEWS with Mr.Andrej BAJUK, Slovenian Finance Minister - Presentation of Presidency programme

“The adoption of the second three-year cycle of the revised Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs and work in the field of financial services are the key priorities of Slovenia's Presidency of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council,” Slovenian Minister of Finance Andrej Bajuk underlined, presenting the ECOFIN Council's priority to the ECON Committee.

“The ECOFIN Council in March will first have to review developments and the situation on financial markets on the basis of the contribution from Ecofin, while the whole financial stability dossier will be the key topic of the informal Ecofin meeting in Slovenia in April”, he said. “This includes the signing of a memorandum of understanding between ministries of finance, supervisors and regulators on crisis management.”

Mr Bajuk highlighted financial services as the focal point of Slovenia's EU Presidency priorities in this area. In the field of financial services, in respect of non-legislative issues, the Presidency will encourage work on the implementation of the long-term financial stability plan, the Lamfalussy process review and the turmoil on the financial markets.

Among the legislative acts he underlined the Solvency II project is a priority. He also outlined that the Commission will come forward with a proposal amending the UCITS III Directive towards the end of April. Probably mid April, the Commission will also propose amendments to the Financial Collateral Directive and the Settlement Finality Directive.

“With regard to the Mortgage Credit sector we will examine the Commission White Paper, while special attention will be paid to the Commission Communication on financial education, which has long been identified as a crucial challenge, not least in the context of the growing pension and savings burden on households”, he said.

Responding to a question of Alain Lipietz (Greens/FR) on some difficulties on the Solvency II Directive Mr Bajuk said that one should not stop the overall process because of some problematic issues. “There is not much time to delay on it”, he underlined.

Ieke van den Burg (PSE/NL) and Pervence Beres (PES/FR) concentrated on the question of supervision. Mrs van den Burg underlined the need for a strong European supervision for European players. This could probably be limited to wholesale issues, particular to those issues which might be relevant for systemic risks, and Mrs Beres mentioned that market players are asking for a “European solution”.

Mr Bajuk, however, called for a pragmatic approach. A lot is about the question of “who pays the bill” in case of a crisis situation. The Presidency will therefore look closely on issues like better and increased coordination and cooperation among supervisors and the ‘collegue of supervisor”.

Mrs Beres finally outlined that the political counterpart of the ECB, which is the Eurogroup, does not have sufficient political competencies. She therefore asked when the Eurogroup will be able to deal with supervisory questions. Mr Bajuk responded that supervisory questions should be dealt with all over the European Union, not only in the Eurogroup itself

Speech Bajuk

Vote:

International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the governance of the IASB

Rapporteur: Alexander Radwan (EPP/DE)

Adoption of draft report

Final document not yet available

© Graham Bishop