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In the latter area, work is well advanced on the so called 'six-pack' - a package of six regulations designed to energise and streamline economic management. The Polish Presidency, acting on behalf of the Council, will be negotiating with the European Parliament on this priority project.
As concerns reform of the legal framework of the financial markets, Rostowski highlighted the importance of a draft banking resolution package.
The Finance Minister praised the monetary policy of the European Central Bank, which is of crucial importance to the banking system, particularly at a time of increased volatility in the financial markets.
The discussion was focused on issues relating to the downturn in global economic growth, the public debt crisis in the eurozone, and the impact of the European banks’ exposure to sovereign bonds and the related issue of banks experiencing difficulties with attracting market-based financing. The purpose of the debate was to offer a credible assessment of the current situation on financial markets with special attention paid to the banking sector, and to engage in a discussion concerning the possible forms of restoring confidence in European markets and of improving financial stability.
During the other part of the session, dedicated to an evaluation of results of the 2011 stress tests of extreme conditions in the banking sector, finance ministers and central bank governors discussed the tentative assessment of the 2011 process of stress test preparation and implementation, as presented by the European Banking Authority – the institution responsible for holding stress tests (as described in a publication of July 15). Furthermore, debates were also focused on performance assessment for backstop mechanisms, obligatory for banks who failed to record positive stress test results. The exchange of opinions is aimed to summarise 2011 stress tests, and discuss proposals of potential changes to be introduced in future exercises of this kind.