Regulating financial services for sustainable growth

EESC opinion: Regulating financial services for sustainable growth

Key points:

The EESC welcomes the Commission's communication and sees the new regulation of the financial markets as the crucial instrument needed for re-launching a sustainable economy.

The EESC emphasises and reiterates the importance of redoubling efforts and reaching an international agreement.

The EESC welcomes some of the innovative choices made in the US legislation and proposes that the Commission undertake an in-depth study of the proposal to establish a financial services consumer protection authority.

The whole process of regulatory update should be finished by 2011 and be fully running from 2013. This will indeed be possible if no problems crop up and everyone sticks to the schedule. However, the EESC has its concerns and fears that this may not happen. The Commission should ask the European Parliament and the Council to fast-track all actions related to the regulation of financial markets.

Civil society at European and national level must continue to press the authorities and public bodies to swiftly adopt new rules in the financial sphere.