22 November 2001

EP not blocking Lamfalussy Process - press release

Brussels 22 November 2001

EP/SECURITIES MARKETS

SECURITIES MARKETS: ‘EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT IS NOT BLOCKING THE LAMFALUSSY PROCESS’

‘Alexandre Lamfalussy is alive and well and so also is the Lamfalussy Process!’
Robert GOEBBELS, PES Group Vice-President responsible for economic and monetary matters, has condemned the campaign, orchestrated by certain circles, mainly British, which say that the European Parliament is about to ‘kill’ the proposals of the Committee of Wise Men presided over by Mr Lamfalussy. ‘The proposals provide for consultation of those involved in the securities markets and for transparency in the decision-making process.’ Mr GOEBBELS said. ‘But for the PES Group these objectives demand, at the very least, the right of the European Parliament to check the measures taken by the Commission in the committee on transferable securities.’
Mr GOEBBELS deplored the fact that while ‘the Commission has conceded to the Ecofin Council that it would not oppose its predominant view, it is happy enough for the European Parliament, the co-legislator with the Council, to be merely informed’.
The Socialists believe that the report on the Lamfalussy proposals, being drawn up by Parliament’s Constitutional Affairs Committee, should finally persuade the Commission to propose similar powers to the two legislative institutions. To speak, therefore, of ‘a parliamentary blockage of the Lamfalussy process’ is, according to Mr GOEBBELS, ‘malicious’.
‘Socialists remain committed to a more competitive European integrated financial market. The European Parliament is working faster than the Council on the financial services action plan,’ Mr GOEBBELS said. He noted that the Council took more than a year to take a position on the directives on transferable securities (« UCITS/OPCVM »). ‘In second reading, Parliament supported Council’s common position on investment funds. However the Council has not yet closed the dossier.
‘While Parliament has adopted the KARAS report on pension funds, the Council does not seem ready to adopt a position. The report drawn up by PES Group member Fernando PEREZ ROYO on financial collateral arrangements has been adopted today.’
Work on the draft directive on insider dealing and market abuse in the financial markets is progressing. Mr GOEBBELS, who is rapporteur, intends to submit amendments to the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee by mid-December.
Mr GOEBBELS concluded: ‘If the necessary regulation of the European securities markets is not making as much progress as people want, it is certainly not the fault of the European Parliament.’

© PSE