On the 14th of February representatives of the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament reached an agreement on a program to promote the involvement of consumers in policymaking in financial services.
As a reminder, on the 25th of January 2017, the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs approved a report on a proposed regulation by the European Commission to guarantee greater financial stability for Finance Watch and BETTER FINANCE.
This vote from the European Parliament followed a proposal from the Commission put forth in June 2016 calling for a regulation supporting the activities carried out by Finance Watch and BETTER FINANCE. The two non-profit organizations work in the interest of consumers of financial services. BETTER FINANCE, as a non-governmental organization of public interest, advocates and defends the interests of European citizens as financial services users at European level.
With this agreement, the Council and the Parliament support the contribution of Finance Watch and BETTER FINANCE to the general interest in matters of financial regulation.
The Council of the EU underlined that this program will contribute to the information for consumers and their involvement in relation to the regulation of the financial sector. Edward Scicluna, Maltese minister for finance and president of the Council supported that idea and said that "as much as regulators, consumers are well placed to judge the suitability of a financial product or service and can contribute actively to policymaking".
BETTER FINANCE and Finance Watch will be granted with a EUR 6 million financial envelope for the period running between the 1st of May 2017 and the 31 December 2020.
The European Commission has welcomed this agreement and underlined that it was reached in a single round of negotiations, which is showing the “EU’s commitment to involve a broad range of stakeholders in the area of financial services policy-making and to give consumers and citizens a strong voice alongside other interest groups”.
According to the ordinary legislative procedure, the agreement will be approved by the EU ambassadors (on behalf of the Council). The regulation will then be adopted by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU.
Read the Council of EU press release here
Read the European Commission press release here