EC To Push For Further Integration Of EU Financial Markets

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

05 May 2005

The European Commission on Tuesday launched a Green Paper exploring ideas for the further integration of EU financial markets.

The paper, upon which comment is invited until August 1, focuses primarily on implementing existing rules agreed under the Financial Services Action Plan (FSAP) and on cooperation, rather than proposing new laws, and explores ways of improving cross-border access to retail financial services and asset management.

The Commission will look, for example, at ways to make cross-border use of bank accounts more consumer friendly and to break down barriers so that customers can shop around all over Europe for the best savings plans, mortgages, insurance and pensions, with clear information so that products can be compared.

Other issues covered in the Green Paper include ensuring that supervisory practices and standards converge across Europe, encouraging cross-border investment and taking advantage of Europe’s strategic opportunity to influence the regulatory parameters of the emerging global financial market.

Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy announced following the publication of the five-year strategy that:

"Sequels to even the best originals tend to exhaust people’s enthusiasm, so there will be no FSAP 2. The key message is to consolidate the progress towards European financial integration over the next 5 years. Financial services integration has to produce real, tangible benefits for the citizens of Europe. People should be able to see lower costs for their financial needs, better pensions, and cheaper, safer retail financial products. So that is why I want to examine the retail and asset management areas very carefully, subjecting any new ideas to the rigorous “better regulation” agenda."

Although the primary focus will be on the effective implementation of existing legislation, the Commission has revealed that in a few areas, new initiatives may be proposed, and announced on Tuesday that a separate Green Paper on asset management will be published in July 2005.

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