NGOs Urge EU to 'Rethink’ Financial Policies Amid Change of Commissioner

Nine international non-governmental organizations called on the European Union in a joint statement on Wednesday to rethink its financial policies, shifting from a short-term to a long-term strategy, amid the recent change in the leadership of the bloc's office for financial services.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis became the acting head of the EU office for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, after former Commissioner Jonathan Hill, a UK national, resigned in the aftermath of the Brexit vote.

"We need Capital Markets Union more than ever". @VDombrovskis at @EP_Economics: https://t.co/q7FjchidDJ pic.twitter.com/H9pML2Jthd

— European Commission (@EU_Commission) 6 July 2016

​"Our organisations believe that the change of leadership to Europe’s Commissioner in charge of Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union triggered by the UK’s EU referendum could provide an opportunity for a well-needed re-think of the financial sector’s direction and purpose," the statement reads.

According to the statement, the EU financial regulators, by prioritizing short-term approaches, have ignored social, environmental and governance issues needed to make markets "efficient and stable over the longer term."

"As a result we are concerned that this will reintroduce the high risk financial strategies which caused the 2008 economic crisis," it was added in the statement.

No negotiation before notification. Access to the single market only if freedom of movement is respected. #EUref pic.twitter.com/PYxkJjVTWa

— European Commission (@EU_Commission) 5 July 2016

​On June 23, the United Kingdom in a national referendum decided to leave the European Union. The decision sent global financial markets into frenzy, triggering changes of the global oil prices, currency rates and global financial indicators.