EUROPE – The European Commission rejected last night a three-way agreement with the European Parliament and the Council on the Lamfalussy report on securities regulation in a letter to the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee.

In a letter on April 14, Christa Randzio-Plath (PES, D), chairperson of the committee, wrote to Commissioner for the internal market, Fritz Bolkestein saying that the Parliament should endorse the Lamfalussy approach and that the Commission and Council should endorse certain principles to ensure democratic control and transparency.

In his reply on May 2, Bolkestein says that the Commission is “not in favour” of a formal exchange of letters between the three institutions, given considerations to earlier agreements.

In her reply last night, Randzio-Plath says: “I am extremely disappointed at the news that the Commission has rejected our offer of an exchange of letters between the three institutions on Lamfalussy. By clarifying the Stockholm European Council resolution on Lamfalussy, particularly as regards the distinction between political and technical measures, transparency and democratic control, such an exchange of letters would have enabled all three institutions to endorse the Lamfalussy approach and take the process forward.”