Press releases

The release today of a ‘Green Paper on retail financial services’ by the European Commission signals a push to create a single market for banking products, payment services and insurances. The financial sector is one of the few areas where consumers cannot shop around in other EU countries for a better deal or wider choice.

With today’s vote in the European Parliament, the final hurdle to an upgraded EU payment services law that aims to make payment transactions safer and terminate card surcharges has been cleared.

Today, the European Commission has kicked off an action plan to reduce companies’ reliance on banks and diversify their funding sources across the EU’s 28 member states. Part of the package is to stimulate consumers to invest increasingly on financial markets.