The final vote by the European Parliament on the European market infrastructure regulation (EMIR) has been held off until September, following a request by MEPs.
EMIR is the European Commission's legislative solution to the Group of 20's mandate to minimise systemic risk in global OTC derivatives markets. It will provide the regulatory framework for Europe's post-trade cash and derivatives infrastructure.
The delay was announced on 4 July at a plenary session of the parliament by German MEP Werner Langen, the rapporteur for the draft legislation and a member of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) of the European Parliament. A draft of EMIR has been agreed by ECON. Langen had previously proposed that it be voted through on a final reading before negotiations with the European Council, Europe's other key decision-taking body which represents national governments, were concluded.
“The committee has deliberated on the final vote; the rapporteurs and the major representative groups have told me they would like to see the final vote postponed until September so there is some room for manoeuvre and negotiations with the Polish presidency of the Council,” he said.
“We weren't able to get unanimous agreement with the Council, and that is why the issue has had to be handed over to the Polish presidency but I am optimistic that after the summer break we will be able to get agreement with the new presidency fairly quickly,” he added.
Michel Barnier, the EC's internal market's commissioner, welcomed the delay saying that it offered the opportunity to resolve three contentious issues; supervision, the scope of the legislation and the way in which clearers from non-EU countries should be dealt with.
The debate about the inclusion of exchange-traded derivatives within the scope of EMIR has been particularly fraught. Europe's largest derivatives exchange, Eurex, owned by German exchange operator Deutsche Börse, would have to allow rival venues and clearing houses to access its vertically integrated trading and clearing silo if exchange-traded derivatives were to fall under EMIR.
Sharon Bowles MEP, chair of ECON, has said that extending the scope would prevent monopolies developing and allow fair competition to take place in the European market.
At the plenary session Langen said that he hoped the original G20 target, which only targeted OTC derivatives for central clearing, would be followed by Parliament even if there were different proposals from the Council, and despite the extension of equivalent legislation in the US to include exchange-traded derivatives.