-On the third FSAP Forum Meeting in Brussels, the Danish Presidency, represented by Mrs. Lotte Mollerup, presented the programme for the FSAP during the next six months. Main aspects were:
Monitoring system proposed in the Report of the “Lamfalussy group”: In line with the Stockholm European Council Resolution on the Report (and re-iterated at Seville), the Council needs to agree with the European Parliament and the Commission on the framework. The Danish Presidency therefore plans to discuss the issue at the ECOFIN meeting in July (scheduled for 12th) and hopefully will reach an agreement with Parliament and Commission to set up the Monitoring Group.
Financial stability, supervision and integration: The ECOFIN Council invited the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC) to assess and report on possible arrangements for financial regulation and supervision. An interim report should be presented to the ECOFIN Council meeting in July and a final report adopted at the ECOFIN Council in October. Denmark prefers to achieve a simple and transparent solution on structures. The format of the arrangements for regulating securities markets could be a model for a reform of regulatory bodies in the fields of insurance and banking services.
Prospectus Directive: The Commission will issue a revised proposal by end-July or beginning September. Working group meetings are foreseen in July and September/October so a political agreement on the Directive is expected at the ECOFIN meeting in November.
Market Abuse and Financial Conglomerates Directives: Political Agreement on these was reached in May and a Common Position on both Directives will be reached soon. Final adoption is expected during the Danish Presidency.
Pension Funds Directive: ”A political deal was recently struck in Council and now the work with Parliament really begins”, Mrs Mollerup said. “It was very difficult to reach the agreement in Council because - as you know - some Member States believe in quantitative tradition and others in the qualitative tradition.” A tough second reading in Parliament is expected.
Directives on Takeover Bids, Investment Services and Regular Reporting Requirements: The Council is still waiting for the Commission proposals. The Takeover Bids Directive has been postponed until September and might be revised. The proposals for the Investment Services Directive and Regular Reporting Requirements are expected to be published during the Danish Presidency. However, Denmark will host a conference on the Investment Services Directive in October 2002 in Copenhagen that will help the Commission finalise its proposal.
Collateral and Distance Marketing Directives have already been formally adopted and the Directive on Insurance Intermediaries will be formally adopted very soon.
Corporate Governance: Recent events highlighted the importance of good corporate governance, particularly for enterprises active in capital markets. In April 2002, the mandate of the EU High Level Group of Company Law Experts was extended to include issues related to best practices in corporate governance and auditing. The European Council in Seville invited the ECOFIN and Internal Market Councils to have a political debate on the final report of the High Level Group, to assist the Commission to put forward specific proposals as soon as possible thereafter. The Danish Presidency planed to have a discussion of the report at the informal ECOFIN Meeting in September and at the Competitiveness Council meeting in autumn.
The FSAP Forum is organised by Graham Bishop.com in conjunction with The European Policy Centre.
© Graham Bishop
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