The Financial Services Consumer Panel is today hosting the first summit of Consumer Groups from across the EU specifically to discuss how to improve financial services for consumers throughout Europe. This comes at a crucial time, as EU-wide mortgage proposals and other possible changes to the set up of financial services in the EU are debated.

The aims of today's conference are to develop a pan-European network of consumer groups interested in financial services issues, to identify the key issues for consumers of financial services in different EU countries; to compare how the different groups are working to tackle those issues; to debate how to get a more effective voice for consumers in Europe; and to look at how consumer groups can work better across the EU in the future.

The European Commission has complained about the lack of consumer representatives to consult on financial services issues in evidence to the Treasury Select Committee in 2004: "The Commission should therefore not be blamed for the appalling lack of interest shown by consumer organisations" . Yet it is important that consumer groups do take an active part in EU policy debates. Callum McCarthy, Chairman of the FSA, at the FSA annual meeting earlier this year, referred to the lack of impact assessment carried out for European proposals . The Financial Services Consumer Panel wants to ensure that the positive and negative impact on consumers of policy changes are effectively communicated to EU policy-makers. It is hoped that the conference will be a step towards addressing this problem.

Chairman of the Consumer Panel, John Howard, said:
"This is the first time that consumer representatives across the enlarged EU have met to discuss how to influence new laws on financial services coming from Europe. It is crucial that consumer groups get together on this. Industry bodies are already heavily represented and lobbying hard over the implementation of the European Financial Services Action Plan, which will have a significant impact on all consumers of financial services in Europe and consumer groups must be at the table too."

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NOTES TO EDITORS:

1. The Conference is being held at the FSA's offices in Canary Wharf in London on 4th November 2005. The delegates are from the following organisations:

• Konsument, Austria
• Test-Achats, Belgium
• Cyprus Consumers Association
• Spotrebitelsky poradensky a informacni Servis, Czech Republic
• Consumers Defence Association, Czech Republic
• Estonian Consumers Union
• German National Consumer Association
• National Association for Consumer Protection, Hungary
• Consultative Consumer Panel, Ireland
• Consumer Rights Protection Centre, Latvia
• LN Consumers Federation, Lithuania
• Consumers Association, Malta
• Consumentenbond, Netherlands
• Associacao Portuguesa para a Defensa do Consumidor, Portugal
• ZPS, Slovenia
• ADICAE, Spain
• Citizens Advice, UK
• Which?, UK
• BEUC
• CESR

2. The FSA established the independent Financial Services Consumer Panel in December 1998 to advise its Board on the interests and concerns of consumers and to report on the FSA’s performance in meeting its objectives. The Consumer Panel has statutory status.

3. The emphasis of the Panel’s work is on activities that are regulated by the FSA, although it may also look at the impact on consumers of activities outside but related to the FSA’s remit. More information about the Panel's work is available on our website – www.fs-cp.org.uk

4. The Consumer Panel brings together a wide range of relevant experience. This includes financial services regulation, working with vulnerable consumers, consumer protection, consumer education, front-line money advice, legal expertise, competition policy, public policy analysis, market research and media.

5. There are currently eleven members of the Panel as listed below (for further information on individual members, see the Panel's website)

John Howard (Chairman) Nick Lord
Adam Phillips (Vice Chairman) David Metz
Caroline Gardner Paul Salvidge
Harriet Hall Robert Skinner
Tony Hetherington Carol Stewart
Stephen Locke