European Parliament Special Committee on the Financial, Economic and Social Crisis CRIS Newsletter No.4 May/June 2010 May and June Events 18 May - Presentation of the Draft Report 25-29 May - Delegation Visit to China, Beijing and Shanghai 31 May - Workshop EU-US relations in the aftermath of the crisis 3 June - Draft Report Consideration of draft report and discussion of report with CRIS expert panel 8-11 June Delegation Visit to the U.S.A., Washington and New York 22 June - Deadline for amendments Upcoming Events First Exchange of Views on Amendments - 13 July Vote on the Draft Report in Committee - Postponed until after Summer. CRIS Mandate extended until 31 July 2011 Featured Article : An Interview with Mr Pascal CANFIN, Vice Chairman, Greens/EFA New York Stock Exchange Flies the EU Flag for European Parliamentary Delegation The flag of the EU at the New York Stock Exchange, Wall Street, New York for the occasion of the CRIS Delegation visit, 11 June 2010. The CRIS Committee has continued growing from strength to strength and has now hosted the presentation of the draft report, another thematic paper, a final workshop, and two further delegation visits. In May a CRIS delegation visited Beijing and Shanghai, China and in June another one went to Washington and New York, USA. Both delegation visits were extremely productive and informative. The final thematic paper, on the subject of "Economic Exit Strategies: financial and monetary aspects, SME's, innovation and new opportunities for sustainable growth", was prepared by Ms Regina Bastos, EPP Group, and a substantial debate on the topic followed. Ms Pervenche Berès, CRIS Rapporteur, S&D Group, presented the draft report to Committee in Strasbourg on 18 May. It was followed by a Press Conference. The amendments to the report have now been tabled and will first be considered on 13 July. The extension of the CRIS mandate until July 2011 was approved in Plenary on 17 June. 1
Featured Events CRIS Delegation to Beijing and Shanghai, China, 25-29 May 2010 Between 25 and 29 May a CRIS committee delegation visited China. The Members met high level officials and representatives of business and academia in Beijing and Shanghai. Topics of discussion included global imbalances, the upcoming broader political reform in China, its efforts to increase domestic consumption and the country's possible contribution to overcoming the current global crisis. Exchanging opinions at a business lunch hosted by the Municipal Council, Shanghai, 28 May 2010. The Great Hall of People, Beijing. In Beijing the delegation held discussions with officials from several sectors. In particular it met representatives of the Chinese Central Bank - the People's Bank of China; Mr Liu Mingkang, Chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission; Mr Yin Zhongqing, Vice Chairman of the National People s Congress Economic and Financial Committee; Mr Zhu Guangyao, Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Finance; Mr Klaus Rohland, the country director of the World Bank in China; as well as Mr Jin Liqun, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors of the China Investment Corporation - the Chinese sovereign wealth fund. The delegation also met business representatives, the EU Chamber of Commerce, NGOs and think tanks. The CRIS Delegation with Members of the National People's Congress', Economic and Financial Committee in the Great Hall of People, Beijing, 25 May 2010. 2
In Shanghai the delegation convened with representatives of the regional parliament, the business sector and the China Europe International Business School. In addition, it held a workshop on the EU- China partnership in the aftermath of the global crisis at the Shanghai EXPO. The workshop was organised in conjunction with the EP Delegation for Relations with the People's Republic of China. The President of the European Parliament Mr Jerzy Buzek gave a keynote address. Among the participants in the workshop were Chinese Members of the National Congress, representatives of the business sector and of academia. Mr Wolf Klinz: CRIS Chairman, ALDE (centre) talking at the Joint Workshop between CRIS and the Delegation for Relations with PR China, Shanghai, 29 May 2010. Mr Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament, giving a keynote address at the workshop, Shanghai, 29 Ma y 2010. Members of the CRIS Committee, meeting with Mr Liu Mingkang, Chairman of China Banking Regulatory Commission, Beijing, 25 May 2010. Workshop on EU-US relations in the aftermath of the financial, economic and social crisis, 31 May 2010 On Monday 31 May 2010 the CRIS committee held a Public Workshop on "EU-US relations in the aftermath of the financial, economic and social crisis". The workshop was particularly timely as it was held in the run up to the CRIS delegation visit to the US in June 2010. Members discussed the causes of the banking crisis in the US and compared responses for recovery and crisis prevention. Session I discussed the topic of the financial and economic crisis - transatlantic views and shared challenges. The experts of this panel consisted of Mr Peter Jungen, Chairman, Center of Capitalism and Society, Columbia University, New York and Prof. Joseph R. Mason, Senior Fellow at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Mr Peter Jungen, presenting his views on the matter, Brussels, 31May 2010. 3
Ms Pervenche Berès, Rapporteur, S&D, following the presentation of the Workshop, Brussels, 31 May. Session II addressed stock-taking and prospects in institutional transatlantic cooperation. The first expert of this session was Ms Frances G. Burwell, Vice President, Director of Transatlantic Relations and Studies at the Atlantic Council of the United States, Washington. The second expert was Mr Benoît Coeuré Co-President of the Paris Club and joint Director of the Department of the Treasury, Paris, France. CRIS Chairman Mr Wolf Klinz attends the 68th Interparliamentary Meeting, Transatlantic Legislators Dialogue, Madrid, 3-6 June 2010 The 68th Interparliamentary Meeting between the European Parliament and US Congress took place in Madrid on 3-6 June 2010. Members of the EP discussed with Congressmen the financial and economic crisis and prospects for common approaches to regulating the financial sectors of the economy. CRIS Chairman Mr Wolf Klinz, ALDE, gave a speech at the meeting and engaged in the debate with Congressmen. Delegation to Washington and New York, USA, 8-11 June 2010 A delegation of the CRIS Committee visited the United States the week when the bills on the reform of the financial market came into the final phase of negotiations in the U.S. Congress. The CRIS delegation urged counterparts in Washington for more coordinated solutions on both sides of the Atlantic in order to avoid regulatory arbitrage. Besides Congress, the delegation had meetings with the Federal Reserve Bank, the Department of the Treasury, the Labour Department and the Bretton Wood organisations (IMF and the World Bank). The delegation also met Mr Burkhard Balz: Member, EPP; Ms Danuta Hübner: Member, EPP; and Mr Wolf Klinz: Chairman, ALDE, on the Trading Floor with Mr Jeffrey H. Eubank, Senior Vice President, Global Affairs and Government Relations at the New York Stock Exchange, Wall Street, New York, 11th June 2010. with NGOs and regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as the major players in the financial markets such as Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute (CFA) and the New York Stock Exchange. The CFA organised a lunch debate with major financial market participants and Members exchanged views with top academics at the Columbia University, Centre for Capitalism and Society in New York. 4
Members of the CRIS Delegation with Mr Paul Volcker, Chairman of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board of President Obama, New York, 11 June 2010. The US FCIC has the mandate to "examine the causes, domestic and global, of the current financial and economic crisis in the United States". The FCIC has stronger powers than the CRIS committee to issue subpoenas either for witness testimony or documents and to refer to the Attorney General or the appropriate state Attorney General any person who may have violated US law in relation to the financial crisis. The findings of the FCIC will result in a report to the Congress's President on December 15, 2010. The FCIC's mandate does not request them the financial markets which is the mandate Highlights included the exchange of views with Mr Paul Volcker, formerly the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank and now the Chairman of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board of President Obama, and a meeting with the Chairman and Members of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC). During the latter, the CRIS Committee agreed to cooperate in the future envisaging a mutul presentation of its reports and possibly coming to common conclusions on the causes of the financial crisis. Members of the CRIS Delegation to the USA with Mr Paul E. Kanjorski, Congressman, Democrat, Chairman of the House Capital Markets Subcommittee, Washington, 9 June 2010. to forward recommendations for future reform of of the European Parliament CRIS Committee. Ms Pervenche Berès: Rapporteur, S&D; Mr Wolf Klinz: Chairman, ALDE; Mr Othmar Karas: Coordinator, EPP; Ms Elisa Ferreira: Member, S&D; and Ms Kay Swinburne: Coordinator, ECR exchanging ideas with Mr Phil Angelides, Chairman of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, Washington, 8 June 2010. 5
"The exit strategy from the crisis should not mean the return to our previous unsustainable model that will inevitably lead to the next crisis." An Interview with Mr Pascal Canfin, Vice-Chair, Greens/EFA As a newly elected Member of the European Parliament, what is your view of the EP's reaction on the crisis until now and how do you assess the work of the Special Committee at the end of its first term of mandate? The EP's reaction has been quite positive and is reflected in initiatives such as the AIFMD, the Supervision package and the CRDIII; the ECON committee of the EP supports ambitious European answers to the crisis. As regard the Special Committee, we will assess the work of the committee based on its outcome. During this year, the CRIS committee has organised very interesting hearings and produced contributions from experts and members on the main challenges of the EU. We expect this substance to be reflected in the final report. Mr Pascal Canfin, Greens/EFA, photo taken by Xavier Cantat. You are a Vice-chair of the CRIS Committee. What are your objectives and priorities for the Committee's work? The priority of the Greens/EFA will be to ensure the report focuses on concrete innovative measures for the future of the European Union. Our different political groups will have to work closely in order to extract from all the amendments the substance that will at the end produce a compact but substantial report which is then able to influence the public and political debate on these issues. What are the main expectations of your group as regards the political recommendations of the Special Committee? Are there any further priorities that you feel should be taken into account in the continuation of its work until summer 2011? The Greens/EFA consider that the crisis is an opportunity to turn our economy based on fossil fuel into a sustainable economy. The exit strategy from the crisis should not mean the return to our previous unsustainable model that will inevitably lead to the next crisis. SUBSCRIPTION If you wish to receive the CRIS newsletter, please send an email with the subject "newsletter" to: ip-cris@europarl.europa.eu 6