Barnier had hoped that by banning rating agencies he could restore faith in problematic European countries.
Barnier proposed banning credit agencies from rating the sovereign debt of countries undergoing bailouts.
Barnier acknowledged the fact the tax would be limited to Europe was a weakness.
Michel Barnier, the French single-market commissioner, said he did not want to rush his bank-resolution proposal.
Michel Barnier, the EU commissioner for the single market, said high bonuses were behind excessive risk-taking by bankers.
Until the last moment, Mr Barnier had insisted the new proposals would include some form of a ban.
FORBES: Michel Barnier: A Politician Trying to Make Things Worse
Mr Barnier warned that enlargement would bring an unprecedented widening of economic disparities.
First, Mr Barnier and his colleagues are under pressure to propose swathes of crowd-pleasing regulation, especially in financial services.
Michel Barnier is currently the EU Commissioner in charge of the internal market.
FORBES: Michel Barnier: A Politician Trying to Make Things Worse
Commissioner de Barnier said protecting consumers is a key priority for the Commission.
However, Mr Barnier said he wanted any new law to be "comprehensive and credible" rather than "ad hoc or improvised".
But after meeting fellow commissioners, Mr Barnier acknowledged no final agreement had been reached, adding a proposal could be reintroduced later.
FORBES: Michel Barnier: A Politician Trying to Make Things Worse
Michel Barnier, the EU commissioner responsible for the reforms, said it was "difficult to imagine now that we would scrap this compromise".
They include Carl Bildt of Sweden, Michel Barnier of France, Belgium's Mr Verhofstadt and even Joschka Fischer, a former German foreign minister.
Commissioner Barnier told the Parliament that the internal market can only function if there is better dialogue with small businesses and member states.
Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier said that 100, 000 Europeans had benefited from the mutual recognition of qualifications, but that "the potential was much greater".
Michel Barnier, European Commissioner for the internal market and services, said Monday that the measures should be in place only for a few days.
Mr Barnier likes to hold up a chart tracking his 20-odd proposals as they change from green (forthcoming rules) to orange (under negotiation) and mauve (adopted).
U.S.-EU coordination on financial regulation was also on the menu, particularly in Mr. Lew's meeting with the European Commissioner who holds the relevant portfolio, Frenchman Michel Barnier.
One reason the proposal got past the commission was an unholy alliance between Michel Barnier, the French single-market commissioner, and Karel De Gucht, the Belgian trade commissioner.
Presenting his proposals to reform trading in financial derivatives on Thursday, Barnier suggested the ban could be extended to downgrades of countries negotiating to join the bailout.
The new prominence of Mr Barnier and Mr Solbes suggests that taking a job in Brussels need no longer be a signal that you are nearing retirement.
He will be joined by Michel Barnier, a conservative former minister for Europe who is loyal to President Jacques Chirac and currently a senator from his Gaullist party.
ECONOMIST: The European Commission: New broom sweeps half-clean | The
This is what European Union commissioner Michel Barnier recently suggested.
Both America's secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, and her French counterpart, Michel Barnier, stayed away from the Sharm el-Sheikh summit despite having visited Israel and the Palestinian territories this week.
Commissioner Barnier said that "simplification is the first priority", and said he would end the requirement for entrepreneurs to have to produce twenty different documents when bidding for a contract.
An EU official said Mr. Lew told Mr. Barnier the U.S. wasn't ready to sign up to a specific date for the implementation of Basel III rules on banks' higher capital buffers.
The two men talked about capital requirement rules for financial institutions, and regulating trading of financial products and over-the-counter derivatives in particular, according to a statement issued by Mr. Barnier after the meeting.
Mr Barnier suggests lengthening the list of Petersberg tasks (so named for the German town where they were drawn up), to take account of the heightened risk of global terrorism and non-conventional weapons.
ECONOMIST: All the same, a joint ��European army�� is still far away
This was probably aimed at reassuring business leaders in the City of London, still jittery after Mr Sarkozy appeared to rejoice at the appointment of Frenchman Michel Barnier to oversee the EU single market, including financial services.
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