Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-06-04-Speech-3-215"
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"en.20080604.24.3-215"2
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"The main point of today’s debate is the question of what is to be done to ensure that EU citizens are able to make full use of the advantages offered by the single market in the financial sector, the latter being exceedingly fragmented. How can we tackle this problem? There are three possible ways. Firstly, by encouraging consumer mobility. How can this be achieved? Firstly, information on all available products should be standardised and transparency in relation to the cost of these retail financial products ensured, thus enabling the consumer to choose by employing certain methods – perhaps, as Mr Pittella suggested, an Internet search engine. We are not prepared to agree on the necessity of standardising all the products, as they should reflect social and cultural differences in the various countries. Therefore, standardisation should be clearly defined. In addition, we would enable consumers to open accounts in other countries. Now we have the Schengen area, which allows everyone to move from country to country without any problems, data registering is no longer an issue. However, banks have a problem with opening accounts for citizens of other countries. I believe this is unacceptable in the age of modern technology. I do not think these problems could be resolved simply through self-coordination, given the number of retail banks and the difficulties they encounter in coordinating their activities. Can the Commission suggest any initiative in this direction?
Another way would be to encourage the mobility of suppliers, enabling them to render their services via the Internet or by means of text messages. At any rate, financial governance must be sorted out beforehand, clearly defining who is responsible for what in case something goes wrong. I would like to finish by saying to Commissioner Kroes that we expect transparency from the Commission. As regards payment card costs, new costs are currently being introduced, preceding your suggestion. Consumers in the shops might not even be aware of increased costs, as the banks are in the process of adapting to new requirements. Perhaps information on payment card costs should be publicised on a wider scale and more often, enabling consumers to compare them and be more empowered in dealing with the banks."@en1
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