On the 25th of January, 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 follows 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 public interest non-governmental organization, advocates and defends the interests of European citizens as financial services users at European level The proposal provides for a programme running for the period of 2017- 2020 with an overall maximum budget of EUR 6 000 000 to enhance the capacity of Finance Watch and BETTER FINANCE to participate in Union policy making in the field of Financial services.
By supporting the activities carried out by Finance Watch and BETTER FINANCE, the European Commission and the Committee want to ensure that Union policy-makers take into account general interest in Financial regulations, and not only the views expressed by the financial sector professionals. The public (consumers, savers, retail investors, insurance policyholders, SMEs…) should be informed about issues at stake in financial regulation in order to be involved in the EU legislative process, which would result in well-balanced legislation.
The vote by the European Parliament’s Committee underlined the importance to contribute to the activities carried out by Finance Watch and BETTER FINANCE to “foster the public and general interest in financial and EU regulation”.
The two organization were granted funds as part of a pilot project launched in 2011. The evaluation of the pilot project concluded that the policy objectives of the organizations have been met and underlined that both organizations were not financially sustainable without Union funding. The regulation will avoid any gap in funding for those two organization and ensure their future.
The Commission has been instructed to assess the opportunities for increasing the financial envelope to ensure a greater continuity and stability in future for those two non-profit organizations.