Recital 1

(1)Under Article 33 of Directive 2004/109/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ⁴, the Commission had to report on the operation of that Directive to the European Parliament and to the Council, including on the appropriateness of ending the exemption for existing debt securities after the 10-year period as provided for by Article 30(4) of that Directive, and on the potential impact of the operation of that Directive on the European financial markets.