[JURIST] A European Council [official website] summit meeting [event website] in Brussels concluded on Friday with a resolution [text, PDF] to create a new European financial supervisory and monitoring system. The new system will seek to balance the need of coordinating efforts on financial supervision, particularly in times of crisis, with the autonomy of each member nation over their own financial stability. The Council recommended

that a European System of Financial Supervisors, comprising three new European Supervisory Authorities, be established aimed at upgrading the quality and consistency of national supervision, strengthening oversight of cross border groups through the setting up of supervisory colleges and a establishing a European single rule book applicable to all financial institutions in the Single Market. . . the European Council stresses that decisions taken by the European Supervisory Authorities should not impinge in any way on the fiscal responsibility of Member States.

The Council also underlined its continuing commitment to global regulation and supervision, especially in view of the upcoming September 2009 G20 [backgrounder] economic summit in Pittsburgh, and reaffirmed its readiness to provide "fast temporary support" to the budget of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) [official website].

In February, European members of G20's financial policy body called [JURIST report] for stricter regulation of the financial industry and liberal trade policies to help global economy recovery. At the April meeting of the G20 in London, US President Obama called for global financial reforms [JURIST report].