Brussels, 20 July 2020 – The new composition of the European Supervisory Authorities’ (ESAs) “Stakeholder Groups” is a step backwards with regard to a balanced representation between industry and consumers in EU financial rulemaking. This is the result of the recent ESAs reform, which reduced the quotas for consumers and academics in favour of financial institutions (industry & “professional associations”).
Before the ESAs reform that came into effect in 2019, these stakeholder groups (SGs) reserved 10 spots for financial industry representatives, 5 for academics and the rest for a “bundled” category composed of representatives of employees (of financial institutions), consumers, users of financial services and SMEs. Following the reform, the quota of the financial industry at EBA and at ESMA was increased to the detriment of the other categories: now each stakeholder group must comprise 13 members representing the industry, 4 academics, and 13 from the “bundled” category. The new EU rule is even worse in the case of EIOPA, where representatives from professional associations are added on top of the increased financial industry quota of 13, with the financial industry now making up half (or more) of the total membership.