38. welcomes the establishment of the Financial Services Consumer Group and the attempts to involve user representatives in expert groups and consultations; notes, nevertheless, that the voice of consumers and end users such as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) lags far behind that of the financial industry; recommends the creation of a European budget line to finance financial market expertise in consumer and SME organisations in order to feed into the FSAP consultation processes;

38. welcomes the establishment of the Financial Services Consumer Group and the attempts to involve user representatives in expert groups and consultations; notes, nevertheless, that the voice of consumers and end users such as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) lags far behind that of the financial industry; recommends the creation of a European budget line to finance financial market expertise in consumer and SME organisations in order to feed into the FSAP consultation processes;

37. welcomes the establishment of the Financial Services Consumer Group and the attempts to involve user representatives in expert groups and consultations; notes that, nevertheless, the voice of consumers and end users such as SMEs lags far behind that of the financial industry; recommends the creation of a European budget line to finance financial market expertise in consumer and SME organisations in order to feed into the FSAP consultation processes;

–adding value where necessary to local, national and crossborder initiatives promoting a better understanding, for instance through the dissemination of information, of the opportunities, benefits and possible risks of the Information Society, whether aimed at the general public or at specific target groups; –the gathering and dissemination of information on citizens' and users' needs with respect to Information Society services and applications; –the enhancement of the visibility to the general public and other interested parties ...[+++] on real projects being implemented to service their needs; –the monitoring of peoples' awareness and familiarization with the Information Society services and applications, in particular through the fostering of regular surveys and the integration of national surveys into a European picture; –the stimulation of the interest of industry, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in providing services and applications that meet the needs expressed by citizens and users, for instance, through presentations of Information Society activities, networks, applications and concrete opportunities to be exploited; –the demonstration of potential impacts of the Information Society at regional level, including within its crossborder dimension, the promotion of exchange of relevant information between cities and regions; –the support for the Information Society Forum consisting of experts representing a broad range of interests from industry, academia, media, trade unions, consumer and user groups, advising the Commission on the challenges to overcome for the development of the Information Society; (b) measures to optimize the socio-economic benefits of the Information Society in Europe:

This group should be set up as soon as possible and should be requested to produce an initial report by the end of June; - the continuation of the discussions initiated in the Round Table workshops with the major currency-user categories on a national, sectoral or Community basis; - the launching of measures tailored to specific user groups (consumer organisations, the disadvantaged, the elderly or the handicapped) and economic agents (SMEs) that may encounter particular difficulties as a result of the move to the Euro, with a view to identifying their individual needs and to devising appropriate information measures; - the supply of precise informatio ...[+++]n in good time for users of the future single currency on certain technical arrangements arising from the scenario adopted by the European Council in Madrid (decimalization of the Euro, technical specifications, the legal status of the Euro, etc.) as the work undertaken under the auspices of the Community institutions proceeds. conclusions for Workshop 1 (morning) The basis underpinning any advance of the European Union is the citizen's confidence in his capacity as voter, taxpayer, wage-earner, unemployed person and consumer.

These include: - discussions with its two consultative groups (the Payments Systems Technical Development Group and the Payment Systems Users Liaison Group) on the ways in which the payment systems can best be prepared for the introduction of the Ecu - rapid progress, in the framework of an existing Task Force of government experts, on harmonising procedures for reporting cross- border credit transfers for the purposes of compiling balance of payments statistics (the Commission wants transactions below 10,000 Ecus exempted) - continuing discussions with Member State legal experts, central bank representatives and the EMI on harmonising t ...[+++]he legal framework for cross-border payments, in particular settlement finality for credit transfers (a Directive on settlement finality could be proposed in 1995) - maintaining contact with interested parties on the establishment of linkages between automatic clearing houses (ACHs, which process payments transfers at the national level) to assess how best to contribute to progress in this area - consulting with the Commission's two consultative groups on the results of an independent study to be completed in June 1995 on the information given to customers when using payment cards for cross-border payments (so-called face-to-face payments), and assessing the appropriate follow-up measures - launching a study on the regulatory implications for the EU of the use of pre-paid payment cards, particularly as regards the stability of the banking system, consumer protection and the promotion of interoperable cross-border banking services.