"Vindictive" targeting ignores EU's core economic failures
Posted,1/16/2012 7:00:00 PM
A renewed attack by the EU on credit ratings agencies smacks of vindictiveness, Conservative MEP Ashley Fox said today. The EU Commission this morning attempted to belittle the agencies (CRAs) by effectively saying the EU knew better than them. Spokesman Olivier Bailly told reporters: "We have more information than the ratings agencies and we think there are elements missing in their analysis." But he suggested that the EU could not share the information with global economic decision-makers because it would take too much time. The intervention came seven hours before Standard and Poor's took the further dramatic step of downgrading the EU's bail-out mechanism mthe European Financial Stability Fund. In an apparent attempt to assert its authority, the Commission also republished plans to crack down on the agencies through more-severe regulation. The hostile stance followed Friday afternoon's downgrading by American CRA Standard and Poor's of France and eight other EU economies. Mr Fox, MEP for South West England, has led Conservative opposition in the European Parliament to heavy-handed regulation of the CRAs. He said: "However carefully Commissioners may claim to have thought their message out, the timing makes it look like nothing more than a vindictive knee-jerk reaction to Friday's high-profile downgrades. "Once again they mistake an unwelcome message for an untrustworthy one. Once again they confuse cause and effect. Once again they ignore the underlying crisis and bring their force to bear on a side-issue. "They see an unhelpful message and conclude it must be based on false data or unreliable calculation. "But as I keep telling them - you don't get better weather by turning down the forecast."
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Guarded welcome for Commission's CRA climb-down
Posted,11/15/2011 5:00:00 PM
Conservatives have given a cautious welcome to the European Commission's announcement today (Tuesday) that it will put off any move to stop credit ratings agencies reporting on troubled economies.
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Tories condemn bid to ban credit rating agencies
Posted,10/25/2011 12:00:00 PM
Conservative MEPs have condemned "arrogant and fanciful" plans by the Eurocrats to ban credit-rating agencies (CRAs) from delivering their verdicts on EU states. Under a proposal expected to be unveiled by the European Commission tomorrow (Wednesday), the EU´s financial markets watchdog, the ESMA (European Securities and Markets Authority), would be handed powers to stop publication of credit ratings of countries that need a financial rescue programme. Ashley Fox MEP, who has fought previous European measures to interfere with the independence of CRAs, said the proposal was a classic case of shooting the messenger. He said: "This is no more than an attempt to ban bad news and criticism. CRAs simply offer an opinion. No one is compelled to pay any attention to it. But of course the markets do pay attention because, on balance, the opinion is carefully-considered and usually accurate. "I cannot imagine how a ban would work. After all, the CRAs are based in America, so for Europe to attempt to gag them would be both arrogant and fanciful. "CRAs are an integral part of the financial system and this ban is a clear attempt to stifle the the free flow of financial information and to silence open economic debate. In the long run, that can only depress investor confidence further.
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MEPs call for European Parliament to have just one seat
Posted,6/8/2011 12:00:00 AM
Strasbourg, 8th June 2011 -- In a significant vote today in the European Parliament, MEPs have overwhelmingly called for the institution to end its monthly relocation between Brussels and Strasbourg, which costs around 200 million Euros and emits around 20,000 tonnes of CO2.
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Financial institutions need to be risk aware, not risk averse
Posted,5/11/2011 12:00:00 AM
Strasbourg, 11th May 2011 -- Ahead of the publication of new legislative proposals from the European Commission on corporate governance in financial institutions, the European Parliament has backed a report by European Conservatives and Reformists member Ashley Fox MEP that calls for a greater level of risk awareness and management by both supervisors and financial institutions.
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