13. Stresses that, for the creation of an internal market for financial services for consumers and SMEs, the establishment of Community-wide competition and cross-border provision of financial services are among the basic preconditions; points out that lower prices, more choice and greater quality are what mainly follow from healthy competition between financial services providers; stresses that financial services directives favouring SMEs bring benefits only if there is effective competition between retail financial service provide ...[+++]rs;

32. notes that too many EU citizens are excluded from basic financial services; concludes that well-functioning basic financial services should remain available and affordable to every EU citizen; asks the Commission to conduct a study on the accessibility of services such as bank accounts, cash machines, payment cards, and low-cost loans, and to promote best practices and experiences developed by financial institutions in providing such basic services;

The Financial Services Consumer Group has been established as a sub-group of the already existing European Consumer Consultative Group (ECCG)), the Commission’s main forum for engaging with consumer organisations (see [http ...]

allowing that insurance and financial services customers are not left with "hidden VAT" whilst, maintaining at the same time budgetary security for Member States, reducing the administrative charges for the economic operators concerned and improving the definition of exempt services, creating more legal security for Member States and economic operators and be sufficiently robust to keep pace with the development of new insurance and financial services; removing potential or actual competitive distortions between supplies of insurance and financial services across different M ...[+++]ember States or between places outside the EU and supplies of those services in the EU.

The European Commission has approved the proposed joint venture of two subsidiaries of the national railway groups Deutsche Bahn AG and NV Nederlandse Spoorwegen respectively, to test service stores in German railway stations.

"It is crucial that the Single Market for financial services delivers its full potential for consumers, in terms of a broad range of safe, competitive products, and for industry, in terms inter alia of easier access to a single deep and liquid market for investment capital, as well as for financial service operators themselves", commented Financial Services Commissioner Mario Monti".