THE European Parliament could still take legal action against the Commission for its role in the controversial Lloyd's of London affair, an MEP said this week.
The old Parliament's legal affairs committee wanted to take the EU executive to the European Court of Justice for refusing to respond to a question concerning the regulation of Lloyd's. The deputies asked the Commission to say whether the UK's supervision of the Lloyd's market was in breach of EU law before a new regime entered into force two years ago.
But ex-Parliament president Pat Cox let the EU executive off the hook in the closing weeks of his tenure - even though Internal Market Commissioner Frits Bolkestein said he was not allowed to rule on past failings.
Diana Wallis, the British Liberal MEP in charge of the Lloyd's dossier during the previous legislature, says many deputies in the new legal affairs committee are still keen to act.
"We will try to pursue it," she told European Voice. "It cannot be allowed to be left hanging."
Cox's successor, Josep Borrell, would have to take the ultimate decision on whether or not to refer the issue to court.
A verdict from the Commission could have helped some Lloyd's investors to seek compensation for losses they incurred after millions of euro worth of claims for asbestos-related illnesses hit the market in the early 1990s.
Critics say the investors, known as Names, would not have sunk their money into the market had a proper audit highlighting potential losses been carried out, in line with EU law.
Lloyd's Name John Pascoe said Parliament's credibility would suffer a blow if MEPs failed to make sure the Commission does its job properly. "The Commission has refused to answer. If the Parliament doesn't act, it is finished," he said.
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