The European Parliament has today rejected a motion by GUE/NGL and other groups to stop European Commission rules on position limits for commodity derivatives.

Those rules – as part of the MiFID II / MiFIR implementation – were meant to prevent speculation and limit the fluctuation in prices of foodstuffs and agricultural goods.  

The European Parliament had criticised earlier near identical Commission proposals for being too weak and not in line with the legal mandate by Parliament and Council.

Fabio De Masi MEP, GUE/NGL member of the MiFID II / MiFIR negotiating team reacted after the vote:

“The Pope is right to say that this economic system kills. It is sad to see financial lobbyists and those profiting from excessive speculation have once again got away with rules that will not curb price volatility and threaten the food safety of people around the world.”

“Financial gambling will lead us straight into the next financial crisis. The Parliament had repeatedly called for stronger rules but this has been ignored by the European Commission. Today, a majority have caved in to pressure from lobbyists.”

De Masi concluded: “Weak rules will allow a few traders to control an entire market and set prices in their own interest. Almost 10 years on from the collapse of Lehman Brothers, we still continue like business as usual – sleepwalking into the next crash.”