Ausführliche Sitzungsberichte

Dienstag, 16. Dezember 2008 - Straßburg

20. Wertpapierliefer- und Abrechnungssysteme und Finanzsicherheiten (Aussprache)

  Presidente. − L'ordine del giorno reca la relazione di Piia-Noora Kauppi, a nome della commissione per i problemi economici e monetari, sulla proposta di direttiva del Parlamento europeo e del Consiglio che modifica la direttiva 98/26/CE concernente il carattere definitivo del regolamento nei sistemi di pagamento e nei sistemi di regolamento titoli e la direttiva 2002/47/CE relativa ai contratti di garanzia finanziaria per quanto riguarda i sistemi connessi e i crediti (COM(2008)0213 - C6-0181/2008 - 2008/0082(COD)) (A6-0480/2008).

  Piia-Noora Kauppi, rapporteur. − Mr President, I have had the pleasure of being the rapporteur on this topic of settlement finality in payment and securities settlement systems and the directive on financial collateral arrangements. I am leaving Parliament tomorrow – this will be my last legislative report for the European Parliament – so please accept my sincere apologies if I am a little bit emotional tonight.

This is not the most political of items. Sometimes what we do in the European Parliament is quite technical, but I am absolutely sure that this directive, this legislation, will also help Europe to go forward.

The aim of this legislation is to update the directives in line with the latest market and regulatory developments. The main change brought about by the settlement finality directive is to extend the protection of the directive to cover night-time settlement and settlement between linked systems; this is very important, since the number of links and the need for interoperability have lately increased immensely. The MIFID directive, on which I also had the honour to be rapporteur in this House, and the European code of conduct on clearing and settlement systems are expected to become increasingly operable, and that means that we have more need to coordinate our settlement and financial collateral arrangements.

Regarding the Financial Collateral Directive (FCD), it is very important to accept credit claims as financial collateral. The European Parliament also wanted to extend the scope of what is accepted as collateral to interbank credit claims. For me it was acceptable for credit for micro-enterprises and small enterprises to be excluded, like consumer credits.

The establishment of a harmonised legal framework for the use of credit claims as collateral in cross-border transactions helps enhance market liquidity and ensures the proper functioning of settlement systems in rapidly evolving markets. The new directives also introduce several simplifications and clarifications and definitions. These solutions will make an important contribution to strengthening the tools for managing instability in financial markets.

My aim was to reach a compromise at first reading, so we were negotiating with the Council and Commission the whole time. I have also negotiated with other political groups, with Ms Berès and Ms Starkevičiūtė especially, in order to achieve a compromise that could satisfy everyone in the Parliament. I am very happy that the report was unanimously accepted by the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.

In the end I am also quite content with the compromise that will be voted during this week’s part-session. On most of the issues the negotiations went well and we agreed on the basic lines of this legislation. However, there were a few controversial issues as well and I did not get all the goals through.

During the negotiations I was not able to get the support for the ECON proposal to amend the definition of the system which would have made it possible to grant the protection of the directive to systems based on the ECB legal act, and would have allowed the European Central Bank to designate such systems itself. I am happy that the European Commission stated during the negotiations that it is in principle in favour of such an amendment and will probably table a proposal to this effect in the near future.

Regarding the financial collateral directive and the notifications, I could have wished that all the Member States had already abolished the notification requirements, which in my view only add bureaucracy and do not advance any particular objective; however, as I learned that this issue was extremely sensitive to some Member States I am quite satisfied that we got a review clause written in.

I think that after five years the few Member States that still want to request these ex-ante notifications can be persuaded to end this unnecessary practice. As I mentioned already, I am happy that we were able to find a compromise that we could all agree on. I hope that you, my fellow colleagues, will vote on this legislation on Thursday.

Finally, I would like to say that it has been a pleasure to work with all of you during these years. It is my 20th legislative report and it will be the last. I shall miss this Parliament, this House, and all of you.

  President. − Ms Kauppi, once again we thank you for your work and we wish you all the best for your future.

  Charlie McCreevy, Member of the Commission. − Mr President, I would like to thank the rapporteurs, Ms Kauppi and Mr Sakalas, of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Committee on Legal Affairs respectively, for their fast and very efficient work on this file.

The directives on settlement finality and financial collateral are working well and enjoy wide support in the market. Nevertheless, I am glad that we have been able to agree, in less than eight months, on the necessary adaptations to bring them fully into line with the latest regulatory and market developments. This is important for financial stability and in particular for the continued proper functioning of settlement systems, which become increasingly interlinked, while keeping their own identity. There was no need to create super-systems, and this is clearly spelled out in the amendments.

My services started preparing the Commission proposal in early 2007, before the onset of the ongoing financial turmoil. But I believe the changes we have proposed are vindicated by the challenges which the turmoil has raised. The establishment of a harmonised legal framework for the use of credit claims as collateral in cross-border transactions will further enhance market liquidity, so badly needed in the present environment.

We expect that, with easier rules, credit claims will be used more frequently in the future. Of course, this depends on the demand in the market for other forms of collateral. However, we have seen during the first months of the financial crisis that the demand for credit claims was growing, for instance as compared to the notorious asset-backed securities. The explanation is simple: as long as credit claims are not bundled together, which is the case with securitisation, the collateral taker is able to assess their creditworthiness on an individual basis before deciding whether or not to accept them. What you are asked to agree on by the voting on the report by Ms Kauppi is to facilitate the use of credit claims by abolishing some formal requirements.

The Commission undertakes that in five years’ time it will report back to you on these changes. In particular we will look at how the abolition of the obligation to register or notify the debtor on the provision of credit claims as financial collateral is working, especially in those Member States that, for the time being, are hesitant and want to opt out from Article 3(1) of the Financial Collateral Directive.

Let me take this opportunity of wishing Piia-Noora Kauppi well for the future. I know she is going back to a very interesting position in Finland. During my time as Commissioner she has been exceptionally cooperative and helpful and always gave the utmost in any task that was assigned to her by Parliament. I know she will make a great success of her future career, and I wish her and her family well.

  Aloyzas Sakalas, rapporteur for the opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs. − Mr President, I was appointed by the Committee on Legal Affairs to draft the opinion for the main report by Ms Kauppi in the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. I submitted two amendments. The Committee on Legal Affairs approved the draft opinion and is in favour of my submitted amendments that the European Central Bank should be able to designate and notify their own systems directly without interference from the German Bundesbank or other national authorities.

We had a trialogue with experts from the Central Bank, Council and the European Commission. The experts from the Central Bank gave a statement and expressed their strong support for the amendments tabled by the Committee on Legal Affairs. Conversely, the Council had difficulties in the working groups to find a compromise agreement on one of the tabled amendments because Member States are not in favour of giving the ECB the right to designate and notify their own systems directly. I regret that this tabled amendment was not approved by the Council, but I believe that there is a great opportunity to raise this topic in the near future.

PRESIDE: ALEJO VIDAL-QUADRAS
Vicepresidente

  Othmar Karas, im Namen der PPE-DE-Fraktion. – Herr Präsident, Herr Kommissar, Frau Berichterstatterin, meine Damen und Herren! Lassen Sie mich – nachdem ich jetzt für die Fraktion sprechen darf – zuerst einmal sagen, dass ich mich im Namen der Fraktion bei Piia-Noora Kauppi recht herzlich bedanke, und das nicht nur für ihr großes Engagement, sondern vor allem auch für ihre Sachkenntnis und für ihre Hingabe an die parlamentarische Arbeit und damit auch für ihre Kompromissbereitschaft. Bei ihr wusste man immer, wofür sie steht, und man weiß auch, dass sie auf andere zugeht. Sie geht zurück in eine spannende Funktion und vor allem hat sie danach mehr Zeit als Mutter. Ich danke Dir für die gute Zusammenarbeit und wünsche Dir alles Gute!

Mit dieser Überarbeitung gibt die Europäische Union wieder eine richtige Antwort auf die Finanzmarktkrise. Es bestehen noch viel zu viele Unterschiede in den einzelnen Mitgliedstaaten und mit der vorgenommenen Harmonisierung wurde ein Schritt in die richtige Richtung gemacht. Die Finanzmarktkrise ist, wie an diesem Beispiel zu sehen, auch eine Chance für die Kommunikation der Europäischen Union und für die nachhaltige Verbesserung unseres europäischen Finanzmarktsystems. Ich sage ganz klar, dass die Gewährleistung eines gut funktionierenden Settlement-Systems, besonders in schnelllebigen Märkten, unerlässlich für die Stabilität von Finanzmärkten ist und gerade in solchen Zeiten, wie wir sie gerade erleben, noch wichtiger ist.

Mir geht es um drei Punkte. Erstens um die kohärente Vorgangsweise, die in diesen Berichten vorgenommen wurde. Zweitens unterstütze ich die Vereinfachungen und Erleichterungen, die die Anwendung der beiden Richtlinien betreffen. Drittens werde ich auch in meinem eigenen Bericht zur Eigenkapitalrichtlinie die Ergebnisse dieses Berichts und dieser Richtlinie mit berücksichtigen, um einen Beitrag zu einem allumfassenden Bericht zu leisten und eine kohärente Vorgangsweise zu ermöglichen.

  Pervenche Berès, au nom du groupe PSE. – Monsieur le Président, bonsoir Monsieur le Commissaire, Madame la rapporteure, permettez-moi, au nom du groupe socialiste, de m'associer aux paroles aimables qui vous ont déjà été adressées. Il est vrai que lorsqu'on négocie avec vous, on sait où on va. Vous aviez vos positions mais avec vous, dans la négociation, noir c'est noir et blanc c'est blanc. À la fin, nous savions exactement où nous en étions et nous pouvions progresser. Vous avez à nouveau fait preuve de cette capacité d'élaboration collective. C'est, je crois, le propre de l'intelligence de ce Parlement. Dans ce dossier, c'est ce qui vous a permis, comme nous l'avions tous souhaité au départ, d'aboutir à un accord en première lecture.

Sur le fond, ce dossier concerne un sujet où, malheureusement, la Commission est en carence. C'est tout le dossier du post-marché où, à la suite de l'adoption du texte de la directive MIF, nous aurions souhaité que la Commission vienne avec des propositions plus fortes pour organiser, structurer, superviser, réguler le marché, ce que l'on appelle le post-marché.

Ici, il s'agit d'une toute petite pierre, très juridique, très technique, qui est utile, mais cette petite pierre ne doit pas cacher l'immense chantier qui est devant nous et sur lequel nous attendons toujours des propositions de la Commission. Les résultats de ce que la Commission a voulu initier avec le code de conduite sont très faibles. Nous en attendons aujourd'hui le bilan et nous en sommes relativement déçus, de même qu'un certain nombre d'acteurs du marché qui voient bien que, dans ce domaine, l'autorégulation n'est pas suffisante.

Dans le texte concret et très précis dont nous sommes aujourd'hui saisis, deux difficultés principales sont apparues. La première était de savoir si la Banque centrale européenne devait, dans ce dispositif, être dotée de pouvoirs spécifiques. Je crois que des ponts ont été dessinés. Pour autant, le Conseil ne souhaitait pas aller au-delà de la situation actuelle et, avec notre sagesse, avec notre sens des responsabilités, nous avons accepté ce compromis. Cela correspond au point d'équilibre qui est aujourd'hui sur la table et que nous devions reconnaître.

Le deuxième élément important, c'était de vérifier que la façon dont les systèmes s'interconnectaient ne créait pas en soi des systèmes autonomes et, là encore, la position que le Parlement a soutenue est une position raisonnable qui permet de sécuriser cette interconnexion sans pour autant lui donner une autonomie que nous ne souhaitions pas, à l'occasion de ce texte, mettre en place.

Il reste évidemment beaucoup de sujets à traiter et j'espère que la Commission, grâce au monopole d'initiative qui est le sien dans ce domaine, exercera ses responsabilités.

  Margarita Starkevičiūtė, ALDE frakcijos vardu. – Pateiktas dokumentas tik atrodo techninis. Iš tiesų jis užtikrina saugų atsiskaitymų vertybiniais popieriais sistemos funkcionavimą, kuri svarbi daugeliui žmonių, kurie yra pensijų fondų, draudimo bendrovių ar investicinių bendrovių nariai. Pranešejos dokumentas yra puikiai paruoštas, kaip ir visi jos dokumentai. Aš labai džiaugiuosi, kad man teko garbė su ja dirbti ruošiant daug finansinių dokumentų ir labai apgailestauju, kad jai šiandien paskutinė diena Parlamente. Mes – ALDE frakcija – galime pritarti šiam dokumentui, nes jame atsispindi mūsų pozicija. Kokia yra ta pozicija? Visų pirma, mes manome, kad reikia plėtoti bendrą Europos Sąjungos atsiskaitymų vertybiniais popieriais rinką, nes ji yra labai fragmentuota. Tačiau nenorėtume, kad būtų sukurtas monopolis, todėl manome, kad pateiktame pranešime yra sudarytos sąlygos lanksčiai sudaryti bendradarbiavimo sutartis įvairioms sistemoms, įdiegti naujas jungtis.

Dėl finansinio įkaito mums buvo labai svarbu, kad procedūros būtų supaprastintos ir aiškesnės ir kad nemokumo ir įvairiais kritiniais atvejais būtų lengviau išspręsti turtinius ginčus ir visos sąlygos būtų aiškesnės. Atrodo, kad šitas tikslas irgi pasiektas.

Kaip ir kiti pranešėjai, aš apgailestauju, kad nepavyko išspręsti Europos centrinio banko įsteigtų atsiskaitymų sistemų problemos. Labai norėčiau paraginti Komisiją kuo greičiau paruošti kompromisinį pasiūlymą šiuo klausimu, nes Europos centrinis bankas vis daugiau ir daugiau turės skirti dėmesio tokių sistemų funkcionavimui ir reikėtų išspręsti klausimą dėl jų priežiūros, kuris galbūt ir stabdo šių taisyklių išplėtimą Europos centrinio banko veiklos įtakoje esančioms sistemoms.

  Dragoş Florin David (PPE-DE). - Doresc să o felicit pe doamna raportoare Piia-Noora Kauppi pentru raportul referitor la directiva privind contractele de garanţie financiară, raport în care a adus trei modificări majore directivei în vigoare, respectiv excluderea din domeniul de aplicaţie al directivei a creditelor de consum şi a creditelor pentru întreprinderile mici, introducerea unei clauze de caducitate de 5 ani în ceea ce priveşte dreptul statelor membre de a solicita notificarea sau înregistrarea şi, în ultimul rând, lărgirea domeniului de aplicare al directivei prin propunerea extinderii acesteia, pentru ca inclusiv împrumuturile interbancare să fie eligibile pentru constituirea de garanţii, nu doar împrumuturile de la Banca Centrală, aşa cum era prevăzut în propunerea iniţială.

Consider că modificările propuse respectă dispoziţiile europene în domeniu, fapt pentru care susţin aprobarea acestui raport. În încheiere, îi mulţumesc pentru toată activitatea depusă în Parlamentul European şi îi doresc mult succes în noua activitate. Vă mulţumesc.

  Zuzana Roithová (PPE-DE). - Chci Vám poděkovat, paní poslankyně, za práci, za profesionalitu a nasazení při vyjednávání kompromisu u návrhu této směrnice, která bezesporu přispěje ke stabilizaci finančního trhu. Blahopřeji paní poslankyni, že docílila dohody už v prvním čtení. Chci jí však také dnes poděkovat za její celou práci v Evropském parlamentu, nejen za její dvě desítky zpráv, mezi nimiž jsou takové, které kultivují chování v bankovním světě, např. právě onen zmíněný kodex. Ale Piia Kauppi se také profesionálně vymezila i při projednávání dalších mnoha zpráv. Velice jsem ocenila její postoj při našem společném boji proti patentovatelnosti softwaru v situaci, kdy Evropská unie nemá evropský patent. A bude nám chybět, až snad jednou budeme ten patent projednávat. Děkuji Vám za spolupráci.

  Charlie McCreevy, Member of the Commission. − Mr President, I would like to thank everybody for contributing to the debate and, as I said in my earlier statement, I wholeheartedly welcome Parliament’s report.

The directives on settlement finality and financial collateral are the two cornerstones of the post-trading environment, and there is no doubt that the current amendments represent very substantial progress.

The Commission supported the ECB’s request to designate systems directly to the Commission, but there is insufficient support at present in the Council. However, it is something that we will come back to and look at again in the near future.

Again, I express my best wishes to Ms Kauppi.

  Piia-Noora Kauppi, rapporteur. − Mr President, I would like to thank my colleagues for their kind words and also the Commissioner for his cooperation over the years.

I would like to make a couple of political points, firstly about the code of conduct for clearing and settlement. I do not think the time is right to make the final judgement on the delivery of the code. This has been one of the reasons why some of the market participants have been against the development of links and interoperability. They say that there are problems in settlement finality and also with the coordination of different rules. I think that when we now accept this directive it will make it easier for market participants to accept links and interoperability with their systems.

The second issue concerns the ECB. I think that we can cooperate more with the Commission, especially in creating a Community approach to different topics. We already have a practical development which leads to Community systems, and the ECB has been creating network-based systems which do not operate under any particular Member State law. It would be stupid not to take this everyday practical development on board when we are trying to update European laws. So I am very happy that the Commission will be taking a look at this issue. Perhaps the time will be right during the next parliamentary term to make these ECB-established systems part of the Settlement Finality Directive.

Finally, concerning the Hague Convention, we have seen how difficult it is to agree on details when this has to be done through European Community directives. It is very important to go forward with the Hague Convention and with the negotiations on different private law issues. It was particularly difficult to try to find a compromise on moments of entry and moments of revocation. These are very small items, but I think that the Commission is also moving ahead on those important topics, maybe during the next term.

  El Presidente. − Se cierra el debate.

La votación tendrá lugar el jueves.