Britain's EU Commissioner to lose remit of banker pay

(BRUSSELS) - Jonathan Hill, the Briton nominated to become the EU's new financial services commissioner, will be stripped of the highly sensitive responsibility of overseeing bankers' pay, the EU said Friday.

Hill faces gruelling confirmation hearings in the European Parliament next week, with lawmakers worried to see a British Conservative take responsibility of overseeing Europe's banks, a sector crucial to Britain and blamed by many for causing the financial crisis.

Of particular concern is the bank bonus issue, with European lawmakers deeply protective of tough new rules on financial sector pay that Britain is now fighting in the courts.

A spokeswoman for Jean-Claude Juncker, the incoming Commission head, said the decision to strip the financial service commissioner of the bank pay remit pre-dated naming Hill to the job.

"The decision was taken by the president-elect and made public on September 10" but missed by the media, said spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud, after the change to Hill's potential job description was reported in the Financial Times.

Oversight of banker pay will now fall to Vera Jourova, the former Czech minister for regional development who is to take on the justice commissioner job if confirmed by MEPs.

"The unit in charge of business governance is heading over to Directorate General Justice, including the team who worked on bonuses," a European source told AFP.

Any modification to the banker pay rules will require the input of both commissioners, the source added.

Banking is a pillar of the British economy and the government of Prime Minister David Cameron is fiercely resisting EU rules on banker pay that came into force this January.

European lawmakers fear that Hill's ties to the British financial establishment are too tight for the former PR man to take on the role, with MEPs warning of a gruelling hearing.

We have achieved "some real results" including "a promise from Juncker on depriving Lord Hill of responsibility for overseeing financial sector pay and a commitment about continuing the reform of the financial sector," said Gianni Pittella, the head of the Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament.