European Parliament adopts report on Equitable Life

5.37.29pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 19th Jun 2007

Sharon meets with Equitable Life policyholders and petitioners

The European Parliament's report into what went wrong at the troubled mutual Equitable Life has been debated and approved by the European Parliament today in Strasbourg.

The report is the result of months of interviews and investigations by the Parliament's Committee of Inquiry set up in January 2006.

Sharon Bowles South East Liberal Democrat MEP who was a full member on the committee and who spoke in the debate in Strasbourg today said:

"For the victims of the Equitable Life failure, the report delivers an analysis of the UK's flawed process of implementing EU law which, combined with the imminent report of the UK Parliamentary Ombudsman, should aid the case for compensation for the victims. Past UK governments, Labour and Conservative, must carry a portion of the blame for this fiasco."

During the debate Sharon Bowles insisted on the need for a fully liable chain of responsibility "The UK has a shameful hiding of facts because of the changes in the UK supervisory regime, from DTI to Treasury to the FSA, which has no liability for negligence. This requires urgent attention."

Mrs Bowles went on to say "This report also identifies a crisis on a truly European scale. For the sake of all the citizens affected, we need to be absolutely crystal clear about who is responsible for what when it comes to seeking redress.

"We need stronger and more visible procedures and there must always be the fall-back of affordable legal process across borders. Guaranteeing such rights is essential for the internal market to function properly. In other words: no mobility without liability.

"The European Commission is now in the process of revising current laws that will resolve most of these issues, and give policyholders greater protection. As one of those nominated in the Parliament to closely follow this revision I will be following developments with exceptional detail."

ENDS