He told the Financial Times he did not intend to propose rules that went beyond the G20 framework. Wolfgang Munchau notes Barnier will be in charge of two of the EU’s most difficult political tasks: strengthening both the single market and financial regulation.
He told the Financial Times he did not intend to propose rules that went beyond the G20 framework. Wolfgang Munchau notes Barnier will be in charge of two of the EU’s most difficult political tasks: strengthening both the single market and financial regulation.
“The last thing I want to do is to hamper EU competitiveness. That’s why our approach must be global and that’s why my road map will be the G20 recommendations. We need to find the right governance for our markets – whatever the sector, within and outside the EU.”
Mr Barnier, a former French agriculture and foreign minister, sought to calm fears in the City of London about his independence from the French government. “I took the oath [of independence before the European Court of Justice] the last time I was a commissioner [from 1999 to 2004] and I respected it, and I will do that again.”
Mr Barnier also tried to correct perceptions that, as a French Gaullist, he would be reluctant to extend the EU’s single market into new areas such as services or even roll it back.
Mr Barnier’s assurance that as commissioner he will follow global guidelines, to which Gordon Brown, the UK prime minister, has subscribed, is intended to reassure the City of London that he will not lead a lurch towards excessive regulation.Subscription view
Wolfgang Münchau: Barnier is no threat but shame about his job
The appointment of Mr Barnier to the most important Commission portfolio after the presidency is indeed unfortunate, but for reasons other than those insinuated by the French president. It has nothing to do with the City of London. It has nothing to do with Mr Barnier personally. The single biggest problem with Mr Barnier’s new job is Mr Barnier’s new job.
He will be in charge of two of the most difficult political tasks the EU has to accomplish in the coming decade: strengthening both the single market and financial regulation. Each is in trouble. The single market has been unravelling at its edges since member states usurped power from Brussels amid the financial crisis. At a time when we are close to having exhausted our macroeconomic room for manoeuvre, reinvigorating it is the best hope for the EU in the long run.
On financial regulation, the task is at least as important. The policy should be defined not in terms of the interests of the City of London but of how to make the EU economy more resilient to financial instability. Currently, policy is all over the place. The EU goes ballistic on hedge funds, yet seems to have little problem with socially undesirable financial instruments such as naked credit default swaps – where buyers seek default insurance on securities they do not own, mostly for purely speculative purposes. Last week’s emasculation of proposals to create a powerful EU-level supervisor should serve as a reminder that narrow national interests remain a dominant force in the Union.
But while Mr Barnier might not do much harm, he might not do much good either. He will be overwhelmed, unable to give sufficient political direction, surmount the formidable national interests in the way of change or confront the lobbies.
He may yet surprise us. But the retention of the dual internal market/finance role tells me that this new Commission will remain without a coherent strategy in two of the EU’s most important portfolios. I find that more troubling than a commissioner who might be hostile to the City of London. Subscription view
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