Lawsuit against cap on bankers' bonuses is obvious political manoeuvre

An obvious political manoeuvre without substance. This is how Vice-President of the European Parliament, Othmar Karas, sees the lawsuit filed by the British Government against the already-decided cap on bankers' bonuses. "This complaint does not worry me at all", he said. Karas was Parliament’s negotiator for the new EU Banking Regulation adopted in April. The cap on bankers’ bonuses is part of this Regulation.

"The British didn’t come up with these arguments during the months-long negotiations. The fact that they are coming with this now is late and easy to see through", said Karas. “There is no doubt that excessive bonus payments in the past were setting wrong incentives for risk-taking and personal misconduct. This is why it is only logical that the European Parliament, Member States and the European Commission jointly corrected this aberration", he stressed.

"The lawsuit filed by the British Government is an attempt to obstruct the necessary change in culture on financial markets, which the European Parliament initiated and will pursue", Karas said. "The voting results in Parliament show how isolated UK politics are", he concluded. The European Parliament adopted the new rules with 608 votes in favour and 33 votes against on 16 April 2013.