As a contribution to the debate on the review of the Lamfalussy process called for in the Resolution of the Stockholm European Council of 23 March 2001, the European Central Bank (ECB) would like to provide some comments on the preliminary assessment made by the Commission (the Commission document) published on 15 November 2004 for public consultation1. These comments represent the views of the Eurosystem, which comprises the ECB and the NCBs of those countries that have adopted the euro.

In line with the scope of the Commission's review, this note focuses on the securities field in which the Lamfalussy approach has been implemented since 2001. It should be noted that on 3 December 2002 the Council invited the Commission to implement arrangements for the remaining financial services sectors based on the final report of the Committee of Wise Men2, and thus the application of the Lamfalussy process has been recently extended to the banking and insurance sectors. In particular, Level 3 Committees have been established for banking (the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS)) and insurance (the Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors (CEIOPS)) and have started their activities. Given the relevance of the Lamfalussy process also for the other segments of the financial system, it is important that in the future the review process adopts a broader perspective to cover also the banking and insurance sectors.