WRITTEN QUESTION No. 722/98 by Amedeo AMADEO , Salvatore TATARELLA to the Commission. Capital adequacy
C 354/22 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 19. 11. 98 The number of codes of the simplified CN cannot be set at an arbitrary level but should ensure that the quality of the data collected meets the requirement. An important cornerstone for simplifying and modernising the application of the CN is therefore the work currently undertaken by the Commission (SLIM/CN). Equally important is the conclusion of the Council on 27 November 1997 to develop informatic tools with the aim of facilitating the use of the CN, and including the commercial terminology used by the enterprises. In addition to the simplification of the CN itself the Commission will propose measures which will allow in particular SMEs a simplified Intrastat declaration. As far as the statistical threshold is concerned the present application takes into account the discrepancies between the national economies in particular the structural pattern of their enterprises and products. Most Member States have raised their thresholds since the introduction in 1993, thereby exempting an even larger number of small but also medium sized enterprises. More than 60% of all intra-Community operators are now exempted from the statistical declaration obligation. Taking into account the differences across Member States a uniform threshold applied Community wide could not be set at a high level without detrimental effects on trade statistics. A uniform threshold at a low level would on the other hand not be efficient, and the objective of exempting a substantial part of enterprises could therefore not be reached. (1) COM(97) 275 final. (98/C 354/49) WRITTEN QUESTION E-0722/98 by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) and Salvatore Tatarella (NI) to the Commission (18 March 1998) Subject: Capital adequacy This question concerns the proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive amending Council Directive 93/6/EEC on the capital adequacy of investment firms and credit institutions (COM(97) 71 final › 97/0124 COD) (1). Can the Commission amend its proposal on the back-testing of internal models in order to ensure that it is more compatible with the aims of the competent international authorities and prevent the creation of competitive advantages for financial institutions in the EU by imposing prescriptive or excessive requirements? In particular, financial institutions should not be obliged to carry out daily back-testing on the basis of two different systems and it should be specified on what basis more onerous requirements will be applied. In line with the Basel Agreement, the competent national authorities should also have a greater margin for manoeuvre than the Commission in imposing on credit institutions which have registered between 5 and 9 overshootings over a period of 250 business days stricter capital requirements by using the plus factor. (1) OJ C 240, 6. 8. 1997, p. 24. Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (5 May 1998) The Commission is pleased to inform the Honourable Members that it has amended its proposal for a Parliament and Council directive amending Council Directive 93/6/EEC of 15 March 1993 on the capital adequacy of investment firms and credit institutions (1) in the way that the Honourable Members suggest. The Commission adopted its amended proposal (2) on 13 February 1998. The Council adopted a common position on this proposal on 9 March 1998. (1) OJ L 141, 11. 6. 1993. (2) COM(98) 90 final