US President Barack Obama's plans to regulate and reform the banking sector, including curbing the size of banks, were widely discussed. Bank leaders said that more rules will make it less easy to lend money and will slow the economic recovery.

“Apart from the bankers themselves, everybody, including business leaders, were of the opinion, that the regulatory framework has to be improved,” Ms Koch-Mehrin said.

Towards an internationally coordinated reform of the banking sector

“The many sessions provided some valuable food for thought, not least in the area of global financial regulation,” said EP President Jerzy Buzek, who was also in Davos. In one of those informal sessions, ministers and representatives of the banking sector concluded that if the banks are to get new rules, it can only happen in a globally coordinated level way. “The EU should take the lead...as we can credibly show that cooperation between countries brings good results,” Ms Koch-Mehrin said.

She said there was also consensus about the need for economic growth as well as job creation. “The EP can contribute to this in an important way as an accelerator and political pressure group for action by governments.”

No breakthroughs

“Even if this year’s discussions did not bring a breakthrough on issues like reigniting the world trade talks or creating a new blueprint for climate negotiations, it was nevertheless a unique opportunity to exchange ideas,” Mr Buzek said. “Davos is a unique place where new thoughts can surface and ideas can be tested. Sometimes those ideas gain momentum later on and become proposals, even on a global scale.”

The World Economic Forum is an independent international organisation that brings together business and political leaders once a year in the Swiss resort of Davos to exchange ideas.