Reducing the administrative burden on the financial sector, in order to foster investment, thus creating jobs and growth

15.7.2016

Question for written answer E-005894-16
to the Commission
Rule 130
Sylvie Goulard (ALDE) , Michael Theurer (ALDE) , Sophia in 't Veld (ALDE) , Nils Torvalds (ALDE) , Cora van Nieuwenhuizen (ALDE) , Lieve Wierinck (ALDE) , Petr Ježek (ALDE) , Enrique Calvet Chambon (ALDE)

The Commission pledged to create simpler, better and more predictable regulation in the EU, including in the financial sector, in order to create jobs and growth.

However, numerous stakeholders have raised the issue of an increasing administrative burden due to the duplication of reporting and information requirements, which is also reflected in the results of the Call for Evidence concluded on 31 June 2016.

Investors and other actors pointed, for instance, to the requirement for transaction-level reporting under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR), the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II and Regulation (MiFID II/MiFIR), and Security Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR). Moreover, despite collaboration agreements between European supervisory authorities (ESAs) and national competent authorities (NCAs) (Articles 50 and 54 of Directive 2011/61/EU), many stakeholders continue to emphasise difficulties in compliance, due to inconsistencies between diverging templates but also due to duplication and requests for the very same information by several public authorities.

What does the Commission envisage doing to simplify and/or streamline the level-two legislation's templates and reporting requirements between ESAs and NCAs, in order to reduce the administrative burden on companies?

In addition, can the Commission evaluate the possibilities of setting up integrated European-wide databases similar to the Estonian X-road, in particular with regard to reporting and disclosure requirements in the financial sector, while keeping in mind the need to accommodate the private sector's confidentiality and privacy demands?