19 May 2004
The EU Financial Services Action Plan
The documents below are available in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF). If you do not have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer you can download the software free of charge from the Adobe website. For alternative ways to read PDF documents and further information on website accessibility visit the HM Treasury accessibility page.
Media Links
After the EU Financial Services Action Plan: UK response to the reports of the four independent expert groups (Sept 2004) (PDF)
Creating a Single Market in financial services is at the core of economic reform in Europe. In May this year the European Commission published reports from four independent expert groups (Banking, Securities Insurance and pensions and Asset Management) set up to advise it on the future strategy towards financial services in the EU, now that the legislative phase of the Financial Services Action Plan (FSAP) – the vehicle for working towards this goal for the past five years - is nearly complete. This document constitutes a UK authority (HMT, FSA, Bank of England) response to the reports of four independent expert groups. It welcomes the expert groups endorsement of the UK’s five priorities for further integration set out in full in After the EU Financial Services Action Plan: A new strategic approach, published last May.
The EU Financial Services Action Plan: Delivering the FSAP in the UK (May 2004) (PDF)
In July 2003, the Treasury, Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Bank of England published jointly a document explaining the FSAP ("The EU Financial Services Action Plan: A Guide", July 2003). By the end of April 2004, 38 out of 42 FSAP measures had been adopted in the EU. As attention is now being given to how these and related measures are implemented and enforced in individual Member States by national authorities, the Treasury, FSA and Bank of England have produced a second joint document focusing on how the FSAP and related measures are being implemented in the UK and, in particular, to encourage UK-based financial services firms to consider the impact of the FSAP and related measures on their own businesses and to prepare for compliance with them. The document is also available on the FSA's and Bank of England's websites.
After the EU Financial Services Action Plan: A new strategic approach (May 2004) (PDF)
A Single Market in financial services would bring considerable benefits to the EU economy. Over the past five years the Financial Services Action Plan (FSAP) has been the vehicle for developing the Single Market in financial services. With the completion of the FSAP now in prospect, the EU institutions and the financial sector in Europe have begun to debate what the future strategy towards financial integration should be. The UK authorities – the Treasury, Financial Services Authority and Bank of England – welcome this debate. This document sets out their contribution to the discussions. The UK is developing a new strategic approach to financial market integration in Europe. This approach is centred on five priorities: better implementation and enforcement of EU measures affecting the financial sector.; alternatives to EU regulation; better regulation; making the Lamfalussy arrangements work well; and recognising the global nature of financial services
The EU Financial Services Action Plan: Further Information (Feb 2004) (PDF)
It includes useful sources of further information about the Financial Services Action Plan.
The guide to the Financial Services Action Plan (July 2003) (PDF)
HM Treasury, the Financial Services Authority and the Bank of England have published a guide to the EU Financial Services Action Plan, which is available on their websites.
Internal Links
Press notice 06/08/03 New Guide to the EU Financial Services Action Plan