Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-11-14-Speech-2-071"
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"en.20061114.8.2-071"2
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"Mr President, honourable Members, the White Paper on Financial Services Policy 2005-2010 sets out a roadmap for opening up Europe’s fragmented retail financial services markets. One of the core elements of this strategy is our ongoing initiative on mortgage credit.
I look forward to continuing our very fruitful dialogue with Parliament on how best to address the policy challenges emerging from this in the interests of assisting the development of a genuine single market for mortgage credit that creates new opportunities for lenders and borrowers alike, and that ensures appropriate protection for what remains for the vast majority of Europeans the most important financial decision the make in their lives.
The challenges of integrating European mortgage markets should not be underestimated. Differences in product characteristics, distribution systems, consumer behaviour and many other economic, structural and indeed social factors all have a significant impact on the sector. We should not forget that for most European consumers, taking out a mortgage is perhaps the most significant financial decision in their lives.
Given the economic and social significance of mortgage lending, the Commission has adopted an open and consultative approach. Deliberations began in 2003 with the establishment of a forum group on mortgage credit, and a Green Paper was published in July 2005. A cost-benefit study was published in August 2005 to provide insight into the potential benefits of initiatives in the field of mortgage credit.
The public consultation that followed the publication of the Green Paper confirmed that the Commission was on the right track. At the same time, however, it identified areas where further analysis was required, for example on mortgage funding, before the Commission could decide on the appropriate policy responses.
Your report comes at an important moment in our deliberations. The consultation phase is drawing to a close and we are fast approaching a time when the Commission must decide how to proceed.
I wish to thank the rapporteurs for their hard work in preparing what I believe is a carefully thought-through and pragmatic report. I would like to focus on some aspects of the report.
I am pleased to read that you also believe that there are benefits to be obtained from integration. This position is consistent with our own analysis and the feedback that we have received in the Green Paper consultation. As the responses to the Green Paper consultation illustrate, there is a lot of debate on what the right means to achieve these benefits are. You propose a pragmatic and nuanced approach calling for focused measures accompanied by comprehensive impact assessments. As you know, I have a strong personal commitment to better regulation with a full impact assessment identifying the problems and setting out objectives and options. We in the Commission will be looking at the full range of tools at our disposal, not just legislative ones, in finding the most appropriate policy response to each issue addressed in the Green Paper.
I welcome the fact that the report underlines the benefits from enhancing product diversity and asks the Commission to ensure that actions do not hamper innovation and competition. A wide range of products is currently available to borrowers in the European Union. However, in no single country can consumers have access to a complete range of products. In some markets, certain groups of borrowers – for example, the self-employed, or borrowers with low or incomplete credit profiles – find it difficult to obtain mortgages or are even excluded. Barriers also exist that limit mortgage lenders’ incentives to operate cross-border, thus preventing new and innovative products and processes from being introduced in other markets across Europe. In this respect I think our goals fully concur with those set out in the report.
Mortgage credit covers many contexts and technical issues ranging from consumer protection, through mortgage funding, to property valuation and land registration, to name but a few of the issues to be addressed."@en1
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