11 Amendments of Heide RÜHLE related to 2008/2107(INI)
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas financial stability and supervision in the world in general and in the European Union in particular is becoming increasingly complex and difficult to achieve, one reason being that financial institutions are becoming increasingly international, having affiliates in many different countries under different regulators and supervisors, another being that financial institutions are increasingly becoming financial conglomerates which engage in banking, insurance and capital markets acting on a multinational or even global basis,
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
Eb. whereas the present structure and systems of supervision in the European Union, on the basis of which it is increasingly difficulty to meet those new challenges, make a strong case for enhancing the supervisory role of the European Central Bank, while ensuring political accountability, given the lack of a single EU supervisor, its responsibility for financial stability in general and its function of lender of last resort in particular,
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. ERecalls that the EC Treaty explicitly distinguishes between the European Central Bank’s goals of price stability on the one hand and support for general economic policies on the other and that, therefore, those two goals cannot simply be treated as substitutable, emphasises the importance of the independence of the ECB in its fulfilment of this double mandate, and welcomes the fact that by means of the Treaty on Lisbon, the ECB will become an EU institution with legal personality and a clearly established independent political and financial status;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Recalls that effective regulation and strong financial supervision are needed as the function of lender of last resort of the ECB can lead to moral hazard;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Recognises the excellent work of the ECB in managing the financial turmoil triggered by the US sub-prime mortgage crises, in particularat the operation launched by the ECB on 9 August 2007, which provided liquidity in the amount of EUR 95 billion to the markets as a fixed-rate tender at 4,00 %, following the same procedure as normal ECB market operations was necessary to manage the financial turmoil triggered by the US sub- prime mortgage crisis; notes that the operation, together with fine-tuning operations and the following abundant weekly refinancing operations, succeeded in stabilising the very short-term interest rates; considers this, once again, to show the value of a common monetary policy as provided for by the ECB, stabilising the economy in periods of instability; takes the view, however, that the issue of "moral hazard" in the management of crises, in the context of the current EU framework for regulation and supervision, needs to be addressed thoroughly;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Shares the views of the ECB that the growing complexity of financial instruments and the opacity of exposures of financial institutions can give rise to increased uncertainty regarding the degree of risk involved, the ultimate bearer of the risk, and the extent of potential losses; agrees that this complexity and opacity may prompt a further propagation of initial shocks and a more generalised contagion; reasserts, in this context, the need to reinforce substantially the EU framework for regulation and supervision in order to preserve financial stability;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Shares also the concerns of the European Central Bank, expressed on various occasions, about the risks of activities of hedge funds in times of financial tension; agrees that the lack of transparency causes difficulties for the proper analysis of financial stability; stresses, inter alia, the need to improve investors' credit risk assessment on hedge funds as a way to tackle the systemic risk associated with hedge funds, i.e. the risk of overall destabilisation of financial markets stemming from the failure of larger hedge funds or a chain of failures involving several smaller hedge funds;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4c. Emphasises the need to set up a EU framework for financial supervision, stresses that although the Treaty does not entrust the European Central Bank with any direct responsibility related to the prudential supervision of credit institutions and the stability of the financial system, there is a need to involve closely the ECB in supervision, while ensuring clear conditions of political accountability, given its role of lender of last resort;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Recalls that increased competition resulting from globalisation has led to downward pressure on wages; regrets, however, that the ECB mainly clings to the idea that it is up to the social partners to avoid second-round inflationary effects, by means of wage restraint; underlines that inflation is currently mainly caused by the price increase of assets such as derivatives, housing and commodities; expresses its concerns about the effects of speculation with food commodities on hunger, poverty and purchasing power;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Considers, therefore, that workers should not be primarily responsible for making efforts to prevent inflation through wage restraint, but that inflation and the loss of purchasing power triggered by the increase of the price of oil price and other commodities should be addressed, in particular, by distributing purchasing power more evenly; urges the European Central Bank to add its voice to those advocating a fairer distribution of wealth in line with its objective of price stability;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Recalls that the Treaty entrusts responsibility for exchange rate policy to the Council to address global imbalances; urges, therefore, for better coordination of exchange rate policy between the Eurogroup, the Commission and the European Central Bank;