MEPs want tougher rules

MEPs have said the new EU super-regulators approved this week are “the first step towards a regulatory system and not the final product”.

They want to monitor national budgetary and economic policies and introduce and bank levy, but support for a financial transaction tax is less clear.

The EC’s official announcement says: “Taking the floor for the Council Presidency and the European Commission respectively, Didier Reynders and Michel Barnier briefed the house on the outcome of the ECOFIN meeting and the steps ahead for financial and economic regulation in Europe. They particularly focused on the state-of-play of the discussion on introducing bank levies and a tax on financial transactions.”

Congratulations

MEPs praised them for their persistence and congratulated them on the result. One MEP said: "It will be important to ensure that the text's occasionally vague wording does not prevent us from going further."

Another criticised the package, comparing it with the American system, saying: "Theirs is stronger."

Bank levy

A large number of MEPs welcomed the Commission proposal for a coordinated approach on bank levies so as to avoid competitive distortions between national markets. MEPs urged the Commission and Council to take a lead and tackle the issue at EU level without waiting for the G-20.

Transaction tax

Some MEPS wanted the EU to press ahead with a financial transaction tax but many said it should wait for the G-20 or not introduce one at all. One MEP said: “The disadvantages will outweigh the advantages. Transactions will simply circumvent the EU."

Another said: "It will be pensioners and companies who will pay for a financial transaction tax, not the banks."