A new European Commission Green Paper launches ideas to further integrate EU financial markets. It focuses primarily on implementing existing rules agreed under the Financial Services Action Plan (FSAP) and on cooperation, rather than proposing new laws. It explores ways of improving cross-border access to retail financial services and asset management. The Green Paper is open for public consultation until 1 August 2005. The final financial services policy programme will be presented in November 2005.
Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said:
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. Charlie McCreevy,Internal Market Commissioner
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/05/527&format...
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/finances/actionplan/index_en.htm