Brussels, 05/12/2005 (Agence Europe) - Announced as one of the priority objectives of Charlie McCreevy, the White Paper on financial services, which was adopted by the Commission on 5 December, lays emphasis on the implementation and consolidation of rules which already exist in this sector (banking, insurance, securities and asset management). It is based around five priorities: 1) consolidating progress dynamically and ensuring an efficient application of the existing rules; 2) rigorously applying the principles of the "better regulation" project to any future initiative; 3) improving convergence in terms of checks; 4) reinforcing competition between service-providers (particularly on the retail markets); 5) increasing Europe's influence on the world's financial markets. Stating that this new strategy is "practical", "targeted at the citizen" and is based "on economic criteria", Commissioner McCreevy explains: "Our objective is to create the best financial framework in the world, which means offering tangible advantages to the citizens and businesses of Europe". Basically, this will be done by reinforcing existing rules, but also by setting up, over the next five years, new initiatives, in very specific areas, such as investment funds or retail financial services. On this last point, emphasis will be laid on access to bank accounts, with the objective of providing consumers with the tools they need to become better informed, compare what is on offer and choose the best savings plans, mortgage loans, insurance policies or pensions.
The White Paper comes in the wake of a broad consultation and the publication, last May, of a Green Paper based around the implementation of the Financial Services Action Plan 1999-2005 (FSAP) and on means of improving cross-border access to retail financial services and asset management. With its White Paper, the Commission has changed its copy, but adds that the differences between the two documents are not enormous. "This means that the issues raised in the Green Paper were indeed the ones that needed raising", said the Commissioner's spokesperson, Oliver Drewes. Mr McCreevy is to present the new White Paper to the Ecofin Council on Tuesday.