Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-11-17-Speech-1-201"
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"en.20081117.25.1-201"2
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"The report on financial education which will be put to the vote at tomorrow’s plenary session is more important than ever. It is clear that the financial crisis we are now facing can be avoided if consumers are well informed of the risks that various types of credit entail. We can definitely say that if in the past we had concentrated more on the financial education of people, we would not be facing the present situation, or at least the crisis would not have assumed the proportions it has. For the sake of the future we must be sure that our children are given the opportunity to learn and to handle credit cards and loans properly everywhere in Europe. We have to concentrate on student mortgage loans and pension and investment funds. These financial products strongly affect the lives of consumers, which is why they must be taken into consideration. We must not forget that increasing numbers of young people are getting deep into debt without even suspecting what effect this will have on their lives.
We have spent many months working very closely on the texts of the report. We conducted a very interesting public discussion with representatives of European and US banks and financial institutions right on the eve of the crisis. Even then the problems had clearly come into focus, and the alarm was sounded. On the other hand, we were able to see the experience and good practice of financial education in countries which have traditions in this area and which are constantly working to improve it – the UK, France, Germany and elsewhere, and we heard the opinions of those who are taking their first steps in this field. I am pleased with the results of the vote on the report in the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection, and by the Commission’s decision on the budgets needed to provide assistance on the project.
We also received many encouraging responses from leading financial instructions on the initiative report. I believe we have reached a compromise solution which satisfies all political groups, which is why I hope tomorrow’s vote on the report will be successful. We can only overcome the present financial crisis through joint efforts, which is why we need to unite and work together on this common initiative. It is time to act and to ensure that European consumers have the knowledge they need about consumer and other types of credits, so that a similar financial disaster is not repeated. To achieve this it is extremely important that the Member States implement the measures undertaken and cooperate closely. And finally I would like to thank the members of the European Commission greatly for the assistance they have given me."@en1
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