A bit more clarity, please, M de Larosière*

Karel Lannoo, chief executive, Centre for European Policy Studies

This is a crucial period for the reform of the European supervisory system. The recently published report by the high-level group on financial supervision, chaired by former IMF Managing Director and Bank of France Governor Jacques de Larosière, has provided a useful first step, but its proposals need to be clarified and simplified, and their implementation accelerated. The report should lead to a clear roadmap, to be adopted by the EU Council. Some choices need to be thought through more carefully, procedures more fully specified and structures elaborated. Moreover, in our view, serious consideration should be given to amending the EU Treaty to establish a European System of Financial Supervisors – a question carefully avoided by the report.