The Leader's control freakery must be causing him near apoplexy as the finance ministers of the European Union meet in Brussels to discuss financial services regulation and appropriate institutional arrangements and authority.
Il Ministro dell'Economia e delle Finanze, Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, has voiced the consolidated views of the member-states' concerns after the management of the subprime crisis in the last few months in Europe and, while there is agreement that the Central Bank 'acted quickly and decisively in the monetary field.....' and that Ecofin and the Commission fulfilled their regulatory roles, 'the supervisory function appears to have been absent at the European level..' He accepts the IMF's judgement that in a crisis the member- states act on a national basis, 'from a narrow, national perspective..' and exchange minimal crucial information. Also there is a heavy regulatory burden and, at the same time, insufficient safeguarding of financial stability and investors.
He wants a single European rule book and he wants integrated supervision over cross-border market players. '... an enhanced exchange of information and an extended degree of consultation..' under tweaked extant EU powers should do the trick.
An analysis of the problems of European Union financial supervisory powers and actions, and a proposal so fully formed and elegant in its solutions, has not come uniquely from the Italian Ministry of Finance; and it beggars belief that Brown's puppet chancellor or toy Treasury was involved in preparing it.
Further:
A full report with reform recommendations is to be readied for April discussions on the lines of the Padoa Schioppa proposals. The current interchange of information between member- state financial institutions is to be increased now, the common rule book will have to wait until the April report and discussions. The proposals were welcomed by all but the German Socialists (who split from the German Christian Democrats' support for the measures ) and Gordon Brown's British Labour regime, which bitterly opposed the whole idea.
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2 comments:
a narrow, national perspective..'
Not sure I entirely follow this HG but it sounds like a good thing
A Europe-wide Financial Services Authority will empty a large area of control of UK wealth creation into EU hands. It cannot be vetoed because the Lisbon Constitutional Treaty will have been formally signed and Brown is confident he can force ratification through Parliament (though I think he's wrong there and he may have to do it by use of executive power with some finessing of the rules on European Union legislation; after all finessing of the rules to stay in power and do what they like is what this regime is all about).
The majority group of member-states are very satisfied with yesterday's progress - 'greater than had been hoped for' Tommaso P S remarked.
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