Liberals and Democrats back the Commission's new step to consolidate the Single Market in financial services

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 3rd May 2005

"We welcome the Commission's launch of an extensive consultation in the field of financial services, which meets the European Parliament's call for transparency and involvement of stakeholders and market participants at all levels of law-making process", said Graham Watson, leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), referring to the new Green Paper on Financial Services presented today by Commissioner Charlie McCreevy.

"Liberals and Democrats are convinced that a sound and efficient integrated market for financial services has a pivotal part in the Lisbon strategy and we will therefore contribute with our proposals for making the Financial Service Action Plan more effective", Watson added.

"The near completion of the FSAP at the end of 2004 (93% of the measures have been adopted) has allowed substantial progress towards integration of wholesale financial markets. This can be attributed to shared political will and the existence of an agreed roadmap of measures, which have stood firm in spite of recent downturn in stock markets. This was a powerful recipe for success, at least in terms of delivering legislation", he argued.

"What we need now is not further legislation, but a "regulatory pause" to allow Member States to absorb properly the current FSAP by removing any unjustified obstacle still hindering the development of the market.

We also must ensure individual consumers can benefit from the Single Market in financial services, notably in terms of greater competition on price and quality of service, such as savings plans, mortgages, insurances and pensions, while enjoying adequate safeguards", commented Watson. "High standards of consumer protection throughout the Single Market build consumer confidence and ensure a level playing field for cross-border services, and so benefit both consumers and financial service providers", he concluded.

"Countries like the UK which have made major changes to national regulatory regimes without thinking of the wider EU context, may have particular difficulty with further EU rules."