He will lead a world of darkness to the light

While the European Commission must now adopt two important legislative proposals to regulate short selling and promote transparency in the derivatives market ("Les Echos" from Monday), Commissioner Michel Barnier explained the "Echos" how he intends to give the Union the tools to reduce the risk of another financial crisis. As in the US, he proposes to compel operators to deliver titles on the third day for selling naked. He announces that there soon intervene to "mix" regulation delivery times in the Union and that the Commission could "if necessary" to make complementary proposals on energy and agricultural materials.

Why not just simply have banned the most speculative short selling

Because short selling is needed! They facilitate the liquidity. It is not question of banning speculation, which is part of economic life has always been. This would be like trying to prohibit the rain! What must be is limit abuses and risks resulting therefrom. Regarding short selling naked, we tackle the risk of non-settlement, which may have effects of contagion and a negative impact on the stability of markets. We therefore call upon the operators take their responsibilities to be able to deliver the securities on the third day. In practical terms, this means that on the fourth day, the operator is obliged, if he was unable to deliver securities to settle the transaction in cash. In addition, it is likely to be fined. More broadly, we will take in the coming months, for all the transactions for the purchase or sale, initiatives to settlement delivery deadlines, which are very diverse in the Union.

Is the text on derivatives ambitious enough

This text is first pragmatic. But it is a revolution. He will lead a world of darkness to the light. Or the first condition for empowering markets, is transparency. On the 600,000 billion in derivatives transactions, more than 80 are wishes at will. We will gradually reverse proportion. Standardization of products and procedures, passage of standard products by a clearing house to be itself under the watchful eye of regulators and the future European market authority: all this arsenal should lead to greater security in the financial markets. As all transactions will be saved.

Will the future European authority markets have really the power to follow all these transactions

It will have an important role. It will be first the direct authority of the "trade repositories", organizations which held records of all transactions. It will also be part of the College of national supervisors ensuring supervision of the clearing houses, and it is planned to make a first review of this mechanism, to eventually evolve in three years. It will finally decide the eligibility of products to a centralized compensation.

That could make the new European authority of markets at the debt crisis of the Greek

For example, it might have temporarily prohibit trade of "credit default swaps" (CDS) on debt Greek. The agreement recently reached on financial supervision, allows high tension or volatility on the markets, to auto-saisir and to take direct action to prohibit certain products or certain activities for a maximum period of three months. For example, a trader in Hong Kong, will be submitted to the European regulations to buy a Greek CDS on a European platform. It is sufficient if the operator, the market, the instrument or the underlying is European.

With these new proposals, Europe is more or less severe than the US

This is not a competition. The important thing is that it meets as soon as possible the commitments of the g-20. That said, since 70 to 80 of the financial transactions are transatlantic, should our efforts be undertaken in parallel to avoid any distortion. It is this parallelism that I watch. For example on short selling, we propose to compel operators to mark each transaction depending on its nature, to say clearly what they do. The United States have already decided to set up such a "flagging". The political will is the same on both sides of the Atlantic: complete these new regulations by bilateral agreements of equivalence and information exchange. Where that is located the clearing houses, the objective is that everyone has access to information.

FAO yesterday released new figures on hunger in the world. Do not address in priority to speculation on agricultural materials

I've stopped repeating that speculation in raw materials was unbearable to me. The France I was asked to consider this issue. Hearings on the subject are scheduled in Brussels next week, and I count well make proposals on the matter, with the other relevant Commissioners. To deal with this subject, I have three levers: text today on derivatives, the revision of the Mifid in financial instruments directive and the text on market abuse. If necessary, we will make additional proposals, including energy and agricultural materials.