mr president i welcome the debate on rating agencies
we do need to look at the reliance on ratings and how to encourage more agencies so that there is more competition as well as the issue of conflict of interest with respect to borrower-paid ratings
however i would say that it has always been well known to every investor that this potential for conflict existed and that credit ratings are themselves not a recommendation to buy or sell
we should also remember that to achieve our twenty twenty goals the eu needs investment and that needs market confidence and rating agencies are a vital part of market confidence
when ratings work they increase capital markets access for borrowers lower interest rates and thus for sovereign issuers save taxpayers money
they also serve to give investors some guidance but as i said not buy and sell decisions
please remember that in europe no aaa-rated sovereign or corporate issuer has ever defaulted
even in this crisis the level of aaa defaults in structured credits in europe is less than zero point three which means that ninety-nine point nine of aaas have not defaulted
we do need this investor confidence
we do need to look at our rating agencies but please remember that they have not got everything wrong
