Follow Us

Follow us on Twitter  Follow us on LinkedIn

Article List:

 

15 October 2012

Michel Barnier: A new year’s banking union


Default: Change to:


EU countries have to stick to the commitment that they made in June and strike a deal in time for a gradual entry into force in January 2013, writes Barnier in an article for Project Syndicate.


The scope of the new supervisory mechanism. The Commission believes that it should cover all 6,000 banks in the eurozone... It would be inherently unstable to have two supervisory mechanisms for banks operating in the same market.

The participation of non-eurozone countries in the new supervisory scheme.  I do not see any political problem with giving [non-eurozone] countries a full voice in shaping the decisions of the European supervisor, but creativity will be needed to find a legally sound and fair solution.

National supervisors’ role in the new system. In the current negotiations, we can still fine-tune the roles of the European and national supervisors, but ultimate authority must rest with the ECB.

Non-eurozone EU members that do not want to join the single supervisory mechanism. We need to find ways to preserve fully the influence of non-eurozone countries within the European Banking Authority.

Democratic accountability for the ECB’s new supervisory powers. A key question is how, in addition to giving an important role to the European Parliament, national parliaments can play their part in overseeing supervisory decisions.

Timing. Entry into force in January 2013 would bring about supervision by the ECB of banks that have received or requested public funding. Only in July 2013 would all banks of major systemic importance be subject to ECB supervision. The remaining banks would be subject to the new mechanism at the start of 2014.

Full article



© Project Syndicate


< Next Previous >
Key
 Hover over the blue highlighted text to view the acronym meaning
Hover over these icons for more information



Add new comment