In-negozjati dwar il-Listing Act qed ikunu iebsa

Matul il-plenarja ta’ Novembru tal-Parlament Ewropew fi Strasburgu, inżammet l-ewwel laqgħa ta’ trilogu fuq l-Att dwar il-Listing bejn delegazzjonijiet tal-Kunsill u tal-Parlament, bil-parteċipazzjoni tal-Kummissjoni Ewropea. 

F’laqgħat bħal dawn, il-Kunsill u l-Parlament jaraw kif sa jaslu għal ftehim dwar test finali fuq liġi Ewropea li dwarha t-tnejn ikunu ħejjew il-verżjoni tagħhom. 

Bħala rapporteur fuq l-Att dwar il-Listing, Alfred Sant kellu l-inkarigu li jippreżenta l-pożizzjoni tal-Parlament Ewropew. In-naħa tal-Kunsill tmexxiet mir-rappreżentant tal-Presidenza Spanjola, is-sur Alvaro Lopez de Barcelo, Direttur Ġenerali tal-Politika Finanzjarja fil-Ministeru Spanjol tal-Ekonomija. 

Ms Irene Tinagli, President tal-kumitat ECON tal-Parlament Ewropew mexxiet il-laqgħa. Id-delegazzjoni tal-Kummissjoni Ewropea tmexxiet mis-sur Ugo Bassi, Direttur tas-swieq finanzjarji fis-servizzi tal-Kummissjoni. 

L-Att dwar il-Listing jipprovdi biex kumpaniji ta’ daqs żgħir u medju fl-Unjoni Ewropea jkunu jistgħu joħorġu ishma fl-impriżi tagħhom li jġorru magħhom drittijiet ta’ vot differenti; jissimplifika u jipprovdi mudell għall-prospett li l-kumpaniji jridu jippublikaw meta joħorġu l-offerta tagħhom għall-bejgħ ta’ ishma; u jara kif iħaffef il-proċeduri li min joħroġ l-ishma jrid isegwi, peress li dawn il-proċeduri qed joħolqu wisq diffikultajiet u piżijiet.

Waqt il-laqgħa twila tat-trilogu, malajr deher ċar li jeżisti nuqqas ta’ ftehim sostanzjali bejn il-Kunsill u l-Parlament fuq il-kwistjoni tal-ishma li jġorru drittijiet differenti ta’ vot. Il-Kunsill irid li din l-għażla tkun miftuħa biss għall-kumpaniji ta’ daqs żgħir u medju u ma jaqbilx li għandha titwessa.

Mentri l-Parlament jixtieq iwessa l-miżura għad-ditti kollha fl-Ewropa. Alfred Sant insista li miżura bħal din tibgħat sinjal qawwi li l-Unjoni Ewropea qed tieħu tassew bis-serjetà l-proġett għall-unjoni tas-swieq kapitali, proġett li fl-aħħar snin kien qed imajna. Huwa saħaq kif favur din l-għażla hemm kważi unanimità fil-Parlament Ewropew, waqt li tgawdi wkoll appoġġ kbir fi ħdan l-industrija finanzjarja.

Dwar dil-kwistjoni ż-żewġ naħat qablu li aħjar għalissa jiddelegaw lill-gruppi tekniċi biex imexxu aktar taħdit ħalli jaraw kif jista’ jinstab kompromess bejn iż-żewġ pożizzjonijiet diverġenti. Dwar materji oħra, għalkemm baqa’ problemi importanti, il-kuntrasti ma kinux daqstant qawwija.

Programm sħiħ ta’ laqgħat tekniċi se jinżamm fil-ġimgħat li jmiss. Sar qbil biex it-tieni trilogu jsir matul il-laqgħa plenarja tal-Parlament Ewropew, fi Strasburgu fit-tieni nofs ta’ Diċembru 2023.

---

Tough negotiations on the Listing Act 

During the November plenary of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, the first trialogue meeting on the Listing Act was held between the delegations of the Council and of the Parliament, with the participation of the European Commission.

At such meetings, the Council and the Parliament seek to reach agreement on a final version of a European law about which both sides would have prepared their draft version. 

As rapporteur for the European Parliament on the Act, Alfred Sant presented the Parliament’s position, while the Council side was led by Mr Alvaro Lopez de Barcelo, Director General for Financial Policy at the Spanish Ministry of the Economy for the Spanish Presidency. 

The meeting was chaired by Ms Irene Tinagli, President of the Parliament’s ECON committee. The European Commission delegation was headed by Mr Ugo Bassi, Director on Financial Markets.

The Act seeks to enable European SMEs to issue shares in their enteprises having multiple voting powers; simplifies and standardises the prospectus companies issuing shares have to publish with their share offers; and seeks to lighten the reporting procedures that issuers of shares have to follow as these have been creating too many burdens.

It soon emerged during the long trialogue meeting that a substantial disagreement prevails between the Council and the Parliament on the issue of multiple voting share structures. The former wants to limit the option only to SMEs and disagrees with its extension. 

The Parliament wants to extend the option to all firms in Europe. Alfred Sant argued that this would provide a real signal that the European Union is taking seriously the project for a capital markets union which has been flagging. He stressed that there has been close to unanimity about this stand in the Parliament and it also enjoys the strong support of the financial industry. 

The two sides agreed to delegate further talks on the matter to the technical teams which will try to find a bridge between the two contrasting positions. On other topics, though some important problems remain, the divergences were not so marked. 

A full programme of technical meetings will be held in the coming weeks and it was agreed to hold another trialogue during the December European Parliament plenary in December.