Boris in Brussels

Johnson - I don't want to see businesses leaving Europe

He came, he saw and, by all accounts, he conquered. Boris Johnson, Mayor of London breezed into Brussels to defend his City from EU financial regulation that would “drive Hedge Funds out of Europe”.

The young Mayor who once worked as a Daily Telegraph staff reporter in Brussels was agog at how things had changed. He greeted former colleagues as if his departure were yesterday and not several years ago.

More importantly, he was well received at the European Parliament where he debated with MEPs from all parties. "I had expected a bit of a rough ride from some but they were all very friendly and constructive,” reported the Conservative mayor.

In a few, typically off-the-cuff interviews, he declared himself not just for London but for other financial centres in Europe. “We don’t want to see financial institutions leaving Europe altogether because of unnecessarily tight legislation. I am aware that centres outside Europe such as Zurich are already trying to win firms over to their centres.”

He was, sadly, unaware that EU Reporter has been warning that London’s City is under threat from EU legislation for the past 18 months.
He was not against legislation but declared that if legislation is to be brought in, it should be done globally. Before heading for a meeting with Commissioner Charlie McCreevy he told journalists that he liked, for example, the passport idea. Other aspects of proposed legislation worried him. “I don't want to see these businesses leaving Europe and I don’t just mean from London,” he said.

“These business produce fantastic revenue. No one disagrees that there has to be regulation but we have to be careful how we do it. Hedge funds are not implicated in the credit crunch. They need to be regulated, but we need to be careful how we do it.”

Reports later suggest that Mayor Johnson’s meeting at the Commission also went, as he would put it, splendidly.