The Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs adopted
an own-initiative report by Olle LUDVIGSSON (S&D, SE) in
response to the Green paper on retails financial
services.
Members welcomed the Commission Green Paper on retail
financial services and stated that its publication is timely, given
the need to work proactively at all stages of the policymaking
process in order to respond efficiently and adequately to
developments in such an innovative and fast-changing market. They
stated that digitalisation will continue to create new
opportunities for consumers, investors, SMEs and other companies in
terms of competition, cross-border activities and innovation. They
also emphasised, in particular in order to boost consumer trust and
satisfaction, that the Green Paper initiative can succeed only if
it has a strong focus on creating an EU market in which
well-protected consumers have equal opportunities and access to
transparent, straightforward and good-value-for-money
products.
The report underlined that greater consumer trust
in financial services is necessary, since it remains low,
especially with regard to financial products with high currency
exchange risks. The Commission is called on to ensure that existing
measures aimed at improved financial literacy and awareness
are fully implemented and that further measures are introduced
where necessary in order to empower consumers to make informed
decisions.
Furthermore, in order for the single market in retail
financial services to be efficient and dynamic, there should be no
unnecessary or unfair differences between euro and non-euro Member
States. The EU-level capacity for data collection and analysis in
this field will probably need to be strengthened.
Short-term priorities:
the report emphasised that the enforcement of EU and national
financial and consumer legislation needs to be strengthened and
that a single market in retail financial services needs high levels
of consumer protection legislation and consistent and rigorous
enforcement thereof across the Member States.
The Commission is called upon, inter alia,
to:
- ensure that the authorities get the funding models and
mandates needed to take a more active and consumer-oriented
role in the retail financial services market while ensuring
financial stability;
- play a more proactive role in using the Capital
Markets Union, as part of the implementation of the Paris
agreement, to support the growing Sustainable and Responsible
Investment (SRI) market by promoting sustainable
investments;
- intensify its work against discrimination on
grounds of residence in the European market on retail financial
services;
- set up a well-organised and easy-to-use EU
comparison portal covering most or all parts of the retail
financial services market;
- present a coherent and comprehensive strategy for
making EU-wide cross-border switching easier for the
consumer;
- strengthen the Alternative Dispute Resolution
(ADR) structures and to look into the possibility of introducing a
European system of collective redress;
- promote the mutual recognition and interoperability
of digital identification techniques, without affecting the
level of security of existing systems or their ability to fulfil
the requirements of the EU anti-money laundering
framework;
- draw up a plan for establishing a coordinated
network of national one-stop shops in accordance
with the Points of Single Contact, that would assist retail
financial firms wishing to make better use of cross-border business
opportunities;
- put forward a proposal on the creation of an 'EU
savings account' in order to unlock long-term financing and
support ecological transition in Europe.
Long-term considerations: the Commission is invited to:
- study further the feasibility, relevance, benefits and
costs of removing existing barriers to the cross-border provision
of financial services, thus guaranteeing domestic and
cross-border portability in various parts of the retail
financial services market, for example as regards personal pension
and insurance products;
- monitor attentively the transposition and
implementation of the Mortgage
Credit Directive attentively and to analyse the impact of this
legislation on the retail financial services market;
- conduct, with the Member States, a joint analysis of
the implementation and impact of EU legislation on retail
financial services as well as the legal barriers and other
remaining obstacles to cross-border operations and to the
completion of an EU retail financial services market;
- analyse what data are necessary to enable lenders to
assess the credit-worthiness of their
customers and, on the basis of this analysis, and introduce
proposals for regulating this assessment process;
- investigate further the current practices of credit
bureaux in relation to the
collection, processing and marketing of consumer data with a view
to ensuring that they are adequate and not detrimental to
consumers rights.
Lastly, Member States should ensure that digital
communications and sales related to retail financial services are
available in forms accessible to persons with
disabilities.