On the occasion of the EUROFI conference on held in Brussels Commissioner McCreevy laid out the forthcoming issues of an integrated retail financial services market.
An agreement on the Single Euro Payment Area should be reached by the autumn. However, “SEPA products need to be sufficiently attractive” he underlined. McCreevy also called for the European Payments Council to improve its governance. “The Commission has received numerous complaints that consultation of users and other service providers has been too little and too late”, he said. “This has to change.”
The discussion on asset management will focus on two issues. “First, to give investors the tools to make informed choices between best-available products. By remedying the simplified prospectus, but also by giving greater attention to the way in which funds and other investment products are sold to individuals”, he explained. “Our second focus must be on the supply side of the market: how can we better use single market freedoms to bring down relatively high costs in the European fund industry”.
To his opinion, the concept of a 26th Regime still includes too many uncertainties about how it could work. However, “it could be applicable in some carefully selected areas, where there are less potentially controversial dimensions like consumer protection or taxation” he said.
On Clearing & Settlement McCreevy together with competition commissioner Neelie Kroes will come forward with a policy statement in the coming weeks which will be announce in mid July.
Full speech
© European Commission
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