The first is an insider’s informed guesswork. The second (at noon our time) is still not hard fact. Brussels is ‘spin first; facts. if you’re lucky, later!’
The key fact Brown ran up the white flag at the slightest argument. No threats, no bullying just a - er dirty - surrender . He could have fought this months but he doesn’t care.
At 13:09 (somebody’s time) Brown had a press conference and all he managed to say on the subject was “We've moved forward with stronger financial supervision". The media moved on to more pressing drivel
like Iran. Burma and - er expenses. No reports of the meejah throwing rotten eggs
Christina Speight
EU OBSERVER
18.6.09 at 22:33 CET
Deal agreed on financial supervision
Andrew Willis
BRUSSELS – EU leaders reached a general deal on financial supervision on Thursday night, with Britain's Gordon Brown agreeing to a European System of Financial Supervisors on condition national governments maintained control over the public purse strings, say diplomats.
Britain has lobbied strenuously in recent weeks against European Commission proposals that would give strong powers to three pan-European authorities that could force national governments to recapitalise banks against their will.
Under the deal however, the three European authorities in the areas of banking, insurance, and securities, will get binding powers to oversee and investigate cross-border firms and to mediate in disputes between national regulators.
Mr Brown also appears to have conceded on the question of who should chair a new European risk council that will monitor the overall European financial system and issue risk warnings where necessary.
European Commission proposals say the president of the European Central Bank would automatically become the chairman of the new European Systemic Risk Council, something Britain had previously objected to as it rules out non-Eurozone members holding the job.
The commission proposals are largely based on a report drafted by a committee of financial experts that was chaired by Jacques de Larosière, a former governor of the Banque de France and managing director of the International Monetary Fund.
Concrete legislative proposals scheduled for this autumn will be broadly guided by the conclusions reached by EU leaders during the summit.
An important issue now is which article of the European treaties the commission uses to draft the legislation, as this will determine whether the proposals are adopted by unanimity or a qualified majority of member states when they vote later this year.
TELEGRAPH
19.6.09 at 11:57AM BST
Gordon Brown signs up to creation of new EU financial regulators
Gordon Brown looks to have surrendered significant powers over the City of London to new bodies of European Union financial regulators, according to a high-ranking Brussels official.
By Bruno Waterfield in Brussels
The European Commission and other EU officials are celebrating after the Prime Minister accepted on Thursday night the creation of European supervisors over national regulators.
[He surrendered - He didn’t have to. There’s no motivation for him to do anything there excvept what he’s told --cs]
Senior EU officials described how in return for a promise that Brussels regulators cannot have power to tell the British government when, and by how much, to bail out banks, Mr Brown has given ground on a broad range of other supervisory powers.
"One year ago, if you had asked if was it possible to go so far as to have the Prime Minister of Britain accepting not only common principles but common systems of auditing and binding decisions at the EU level, then I think that no one would have believed it," said a senior official.
[they forgot “grinning from ear to ear’ -cs]
Meeting in Brussels, EU leaders are agreed on the need for better oversight of banks and financial institutions to prevent a repeat of last year's crisis, which has tipped the global and European economy into its worst downturn for 70 years.
The proposals involve creating three pan-European watchdogs next year to ensure countries introduce new rules on supervision. Under the proposals, there is to be a European Banking Authority in London, an Insurance Authority in Frankfurt, and a Securities Authority in Paris. All European leaders agreed today to their creation.
The new bodies will have the authority to ensure European Union market laws are implemented similarly in every country.
There is also to be the establishment of a new European Systemic Risk Board that would monitor the build-up of risks to stability in the region.
According a draft EU summit communiqué, Mr Brown has also lost a battle to keep control of a powerful "Systemic Risk Board" (ESRB) out of the hands of the European Central Bank.
[We are not party to the ECB who are monumentally crippled and immobile -cs]
The ESRB will monitor potential threats to financial stability and, where necessary, issue risk warnings and recommendations for action and supervise their implementation. Britain had fought hard to ensure chairmanship of the new body was rotated among among all EU countries but appears to have conceded control to eurozone countries.
[France and Germany who are seeking to wreck London\s position wiil have a say, but not Britain -cs]
"The members of the general council of the European Central Bank will elect the chair of the ESRB," the draft communique states.
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THERE’LL BE MORE LATER I DON’T DOUBT!
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