A meeting between European Union officials, diplomats and lawmakers in Brussels on Thursday could pave the way for a radical overhaul of the way in which financial markets and institutions are supervised in the 27-country bloc.
Hopes were high last night that a deal could finally be reached on how to reform the EU’s patchy system of financial supervision, including the establishment of pan-EU watchdogs for the banking, insurance and financial market sectors.
EU officials said a pact was a “definite possibility” at Thursday’s meeting, which will involve Michel Barnier, the EU’s internal market commissioner, and Didier Reynders, Belgian finance minister, as well as MEPs. Belgium holds the rotating EU presidency and has been leading negotiations.
One parliamentarian also described the atmosphere as “encouraging”, although all sides said outstanding issues remained and a resolution was not yet certain.
On Tuesday a fresh set of negotiations began between representatives from the European Parliament, member states and the European Commission.
Ahead of the summer break, the parties had been unable to strike a final deal, with the MEPs generally pushing for more powers to be given to the watchdogs, and key member states – including the UK – lobbying for a more restrictive remit.
However, MEPs are now thought willing to drop demands for the watchdogs all to be based in Frankfurt, to instead have them split between Paris, London and the German city.
...View
© Financial Times
Key
Hover over the blue highlighted
text to view the acronym meaning
Hover
over these icons for more information
Comments:
No Comments for this Article