Britse overheid te laks over rapport EP over Equitable Life (en) - Hoofdinhoud

MEPs on Wednesday made scathing remarks about the UK government's failure to respond to last summer's European Parliament report on the problems at the British life insurance company Equitable Life, which caused financial losses to over a million policyholders.

Speaking before Parliament's Petitions Committee, Diana Wallis (ALDE, UK), who drafted the EP's report, said it was "extraordinary" that "the British government has not even had the courtesy to acknowledge the existence of the report". By failing to respond to the report of Parliament's committee of inquiry, adopted in June 2007, the UK was in breach of the "duty of loyal cooperation" between the EU institutions and governments, she believed. 

"One would think the UK was not a member of the European Union", commented the former chair of the EP committee of inquiry into Equitable Life, Mairéad McGuiness (EPP-ED, IE), as she backed Diana Wallis' view that the government had failed in its duty of loyal cooperation.  

Robert Atkins (EPP-ED, UK) spoke of the "downright rudeness of the British government", describing as an "utter disgrace" its failure even to acknowledge a letter sent to it on the subject on 6 December by EP President Hans-Gert Pöttering. 

As to the practical steps that might be taken, Michael Cashman (PES, UK) argued that the best course of action was to ask Mrs Wallis and Mrs McGuinness to seek an early meeting with the UK Treasury, one of a number of recommendations made at the meeting by representatives of EMAG, a body representing Equitable Life policyholders. Petitions Committee chair Marcin Libicki (UEN, PL) agreed, and also backed another proposal, that Internal Market Commissioner McCreevy be asked to support Parliament's cause, since the Commission had already taken seriously its own duty to respond to the EP inquiry.

See the link below for more details on Parliament's committee of inquiry and its report.