Unice views on European Financial Market

03 June 2003




Contributing to the debate on a single market in financial services in Europe, UNICE released a position paper to add a corporate view to the debate. According to UNICE, a strong and efficient European financial services sector is crucial for the competitiveness of European industry. UNICE is in favour of a European capital market which is a globally competitive market. European policymakers should therefore ensure that Europe’s markets remain attractive to European and international issuers.

To achieve this goal, markets should retain the greatest possible freedom to devise and implement solutions. As legislation cannot by itself guarantee the functioning of a single market it is vital for regulators to take into account the experience and the needs of market participants when shaping the regulatory and supervisory framework.

Regulation must not try to anticipate future commercial developments or determine market structure but should adapt to market developments and not markets to regulation. Regulators must be able to adjust their instruments to new regulatory challenges that arise from the continuous and fast-paced evolution of financial markets.

Therefore, UNICE supports the framework set up by the Lamfalussy procedure and also underlines the need to amend Article 202 of the EU Treaty in the next Intergovernmental Conference. Furthermore, the Organisation calls for a proper representation of companies as users of financial services in the advisory bodies.

Position paper

© UNICE