European Parliament resolution on the relationships between the EU and third countries concerning financial services regulation and supervision

The European Parliament has voted in plenary to adopt a resolution on regulatory and supervisory relationships between EU and third countries. In addition, it published a provisional edition of the resolution.

In summary, the resolution contains recommendations relating to the equivalence framework in financial services legislation, including that:

• equivalence decisions should be objective, proportionate, and risk-sensitive, while upholding the high standards of EU regulation;
• the EU should promote global financial regulatory reforms aimed at reducing systemic risk and enhancing financial stability, and should work towards an open, integrated, efficient and resilient financial system;
• a consistent framework for ongoing supervision of an equivalent third-country regime should be developed; and
• third countries should keep the ESAs informed of any national regulatory developments through the EU’s equivalence framework and the Commission should introduce a standardised process for the determination of equivalence.

The European Parliament also instructs its President to forward the resolution to the EU Council and the Commission.