2013-07-03
Vitas Vasiliauskas: In our Presidency portfolio — 27 initiatives for the restructuring of the EU banking and financial sector
The Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Lithuania, Vitas Vasiliauskas will present the priorities in the field of economics and finance during Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union on 3 July in Warsaw. The highlights of the schedule of Lithuanian Presidency will be presented to Polish government authorities, representatives of the business and academic community, also diplomats residing in Warsaw and the media.
“The country’s success in this new-to-us work will not only depend on our professionalism, but our ability to coordinate, intermediate, reconcile the interests of 28 countries and opinions of negotiators representing them as well. It is therefore of particular importance that our objectives and plans are adequately presented and duly understood — this is the only way to prepare for constructive work, compromises and — effective solutions,” said V. Vasiliauskas.
He stressed that the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union’s semester is already now an exclusive one — as the terms of the European Parliament and of the European Commission are coming to an end, especially intensive work is ahead, the problems of banking and other financial services will dominate more acutely than before. Until now, every half-year, 10 to 16 document packages related to the financial sector were considered. On the Lithuanian Presidency’s agenda — 27 new initiatives related to the supervision, recovery and restructuring of banks as well as regulation of other financial services. Their successful solution would provide preconditions for the implementation of the previously achieved political agreements on the establishment of a banking union, and speed up structural reform in the banking sector.
“Brave agreements on the supervision of EU banks and common principles of restructuring suggest that we are ambitious architects. It is now time to prove that we are also good constructors. Therefore we must move faster forward with further solutions and real implementation works that will help establish an efficient banking union with uniform supervision and mechanisms for the salvation and restructuring of problem banks,” says Vitas Vasiliauskas, emphasizing the most urgent works this half-year in reforming the EU banking and financial services sector.
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