On Tuesday 22 November, the European Parliament did not call for the creation of a European retail consumer protection authority.
In their adoption of the own-initiative report by Olle Ludvigsson (ALDE, Sweden) (see EUROPE 11645), the MEPs reacted to the Green Paper of the European Commission aiming to tackle the fragmentation of retail financial products (see EUROPE 11450). They find that the rise of the European market in this area is closely linked to consumer confidence and consumer satisfaction. They argue that the Commission's intention will be a success only if it lays strong emphasis on the creation of an EU market within which well-protected consumers have equal opportunities and access to transparent, simple and financially viable products.
However, they rejected an amendment tabled by the Greens/EFA and ALDE groups calling upon the Commission and the European financial supervisory authorities to "work on the creation of a European Consumer Protection Authority in order to achieve standard effective consumer protection throughout the European Single Market".
Portability of products. The MEPs believe that there is a need to improve the national and cross-border portability of financial products, such as individual pension and insurance products. However, they rejected an amendment by the same two groups previously mentioned calling for specific proposals by early 2018. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)