Recital 2

(2)Article 3 of Directive 2006/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 relating to the taking up and pursuit of the business of credit institutions ⁴ allows Member States to provide for special prudential regimes for credit institutions which are permanently affiliated to a central body since 15 December 1977, provided that those regimes were introduced into national law by 15 December 1979. Those time limits prevent Member States, especially those which acceded to the European Union since 1980, from introducing or maintaining such special prudential regimes for similarly affiliated credit institutions which were set up on their territories. It is therefore appropriate to remove the time limits set out in Article 3 of that Directive, in order to ensure equal conditions for competition between credit institutions in Member States. The Committee of European Banking Supervisors should provide for guidelines in order to enhance the convergence of supervisory practices in this regard.