Mr President, I feel especially honoured that it is you who are presiding when this important report is presented. The American and European financial markets continue to be hit by successive scandals, which make it clear that the actors in them include many black sheep, who lack professional integrity. Balance sheets are being falsified, funds embezzled, and false information deftly fed to the public. Securities are first talked up in price, then offloaded at a profit, and shortly afterwards the price falls rapidly. Many small investors have suffered as a result of market abuse and insider dealing. This makes clear rules and confidence-building measures necessary. As the Group's shadow rapporteur on the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, I had a hand in a number of the amendments. At first reading, Parliament submitted 77 amendments, to the quality of which the Council paid tribute by adopting almost 60 in their entirety and giving partial approval to 10 more. At the time, I congratulated Robert Goebbels, the rapporteur, and I would like to reiterate those congratulations now that we are at second reading stage. We have come to agree on important matters. The points at issue include ‘frontrunning’, in which, on the basis of a client's being of sufficient size to affect the market on its own, brokers trade on their own account even before they carry out the client's orders. This is to exploit insider information and is already prohibited. A ban should apply to all the markets within the scope of the directive. The question of how financial journalists who recommend investments to the public should be obliged to disclose their conflicts of interest – to which Commissioner Bolkestein has just referred – provided substantial material for debate. We are not dealing here with objective financial information, but exclusively with recommendations to the public. There are journalists who succeed in using their own publications to manipulate the prices of securities for their own benefit. Yet it should be in the interests of journalists themselves to make a distinction between their reputable and less reputable colleagues. It is surely not acceptable that a small element in a single profession should get some sort of derogation. I have proposed, by way of compromise, taking Mrs Kauppi's amendment as a basis for taking into account journalists' professional rules of conduct, including self-regulation, when arranging the technical details. Mr Goebbels and I have jointly tabled an amendment providing for this idea to be incorporated in Article 6 (10), which covers this area. This was supported by a broad majority on the committee. I am of course acquainted with the criticisms of CESR, the Committee of European Securities Regulators, and with the open letter from journalists' associations concerning its work, but I want now to point out that it has no legislative authority, and cannot, therefore, impose binding rules on the way journalists work. The Commission called on it, as an independent institution, to play an advisory role. The Commission will then elaborate the regulation, which will be submitted to the European Securities Committee – including representatives of the Member States' finance ministries – and also to us in Parliament. I cannot imagine that the Commission will disregard the principles of press freedom and journalists' right to free expression of opinion. After all, they are anchored in the recitals of this directive. As the Group's shadow rapporteur, then, I am seeking support for the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee's resolutions dating back to early October, which, slightly altered, now form Amendments Nos 1 to 5. Commissioner, on that you have my forthright support. Under these circumstances, there is a good chance that the Commission and the Council will give their assent at an early stage. The directive could enter into force at the beginning of 2003. That would represent a decisive move towards greater integrity in Europe's financial markets, with greater confidence on the part of investors resulting in increased investments. I believe we have a good chance of ensuring that we win broad support for this important piece of comitology. (Applause)

Political group: PPE-DE