The European Commission should have more control over fiscal policy in EU Member States, but not the free rein it asked for, says the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee in texts, voted on Monday, stating a position on the economic governance "two pack". This increased power must be democratically controlled and serve to spur economic growth, MEPs say.

Bank capital requirements must be strengthened to make banks more risk-resilient and the risk weighting of loans to small firms must be reduced to facilitate lending to the real economy, said Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee MEPs in a vote on Monday. Bankers' bonuses must not exceed their fixed pay, they added.

Investor protection, better organisation of markets, new trading platforms and algorithmic trading emerged as the key issues for MEPs in draft financial market legislation discussed in the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee on Wednesday.

The proposed financial transaction tax should be better designed to capture more traders and to make evading it unprofitable, says a resolution adopted on Wednesday by the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee. The resolution also says the tax should go ahead even if only some Member States opt for it.

The Eurozone still faces "the most difficult phase of the process", but growth fuelled by foreign demand and European Central Bank action will be forthcoming, ECB President Mario Draghi assured Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee MEPs on Wednesday. MEPs wanted to know where funds pumped into the system by the ECB were going, and urged it to more flexible so as to promote growth.

Proposed legislation to tackle insider trading and market manipulation must not fragment markets, because this would make such abuses even harder to detect, said Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee MEPs debating them on Thursday. Cross-border trading calls for cross-border cooperation among regulators, and tiny financial boutiques with billion euro turnovers should not be exempted, they added.

Top representatives of the Greek "Troika" stoutly defended the focus of the Greek bailout programme on Tuesday and insisted that Greece must raise its game on economic reforms, political unity and tackling vested interests, or risk failure. MEPs advocated a socially fairer and more growth-oriented programme and asked about contingency plans.

"No player will escape" financial services regulation, Commissioner Michel Barnier promised MEPs on Wednesday. However, he could not give a definite timetable for legislative proposals to resolve the banking crisis, saying that more consultations were needed.

The use of a common consolidated corporate tax base should be compulsory said the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee on Wednesday, in a vote outlining its position on legislation proposed by the Commission in 2011. The Commission proposed a voluntary scheme.

Any taxation of the financial sector must be based on the financial transaction tax model proposed by the Commission and Member States should not attempt to use "B or C plans", Taxation Commissioner Algirdas Semeta told the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee on Tuesday. The debate also focused on tax agreements being negotiated by various Member States with Switzerland.