European leaders ended a two-day summit Friday with agreements to
create a financial regulatory body and to back European Commission
President Jose Manuel Barroso's bid for another term in office.
The agreement to
toughen financial oversight came only after European Union leaders
managed to overcome British fears that European supervisors would be
dictating terms to national banks and other financial bodies.
As
he outlined the main achievement of the Brussels summit to reporters,
Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown said cross-border financial
supervision was critical and the deal had not undermined national
interests.
"It does not change the relationship between the
European Union and its member states," he said. "The protocol clarifies
but does not change the content or the advocation of the [positions] of
the Lisbon Treaty and all these words are stated specifically in the
decision that is issued today."
But analysts say the EU
regulatory deal is not as far-reaching as the ambitious overhaul
proposed this week by President Barack Obama in a bid to ensure major
financial crises can be avoided in the future.
As expected,
leaders of the 27-member block also threw their support behind Jose
Manuel Barroso's bid for another term as president of the European
Commission, the EU's executive arm. Mr. Barroso is a former Portuguese
prime minister.
"He has proved beyond doubt that he has the
vision, the determination and the courage to lead Europe forward for
the next five years. Europe is and will be a better and stronger Europe
under his leadership," said the British prime minister.
Meanwhile,
Ireland's Prime Minister Brian Cowen announced Irish voters would have
a second chance to weigh in on the EU's Lisbon reform treaty in
October. Voters rejected the pact in a referendum last year, but
experts predict they may back it this time around. All EU countries
must approve the treaty for it to go into effect.
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