Call for EU lobbying body
THE GOVERNMENT should establish a super-committee to coordinate its lobbying in Brussels on financial regulation, an influential group of lords and MPs has said.
The group convened to scrutinise the draft financial services bill – the government bill that abolishes the FSA and sets up several new regulators in its place – says that Britain runs the risk of having a completely incoherent lobbying effort in Brussels.
“There is a danger that the UK will not speak with one strong unified voice,” its report says. To combat this risk, the Treasury should put together an “international regulatory committee” of representatives from the new regulatory bodies, the Bank of England and Treasury. The chancellor of the Exchequer would act as its chair.
Peter Lilley MP told City A.M.: “It is too important to leave to chance.” But he warned: “The blunt answer is… that the votes [on regulation] lie with countries that don’t necessarily have expertise and have some prejudices.”