CEPS working document on Consumer Credit

24 November 2005

The Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) released a working document on a “More Efficient Regulatory Model” for an integrated EU Consumer Credit Market. Karel Lannoo and Almudena de la Mata Muñoz state that the reason for the persistent legal differences is that the current regulatory model is based on a minimum harmonisation approach and national regulators have different perspectives concerning consumer protection. They argue that one way forward is to draw from the experience of the strategies used to achieve integration of EU financial markets and adapt it to the field of consumer credit. A variation of the Lamfalussy approach, in which comitology procedures are used in the legislative process, would radically improve the regulatory process for consumer credit. By involving the member states to a greater extent and allowing for quick adaptations, such an approach would ultimately lead to a greater level of market integration.

Document

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