Objectives of the financial services action plan
If God, Niccolò Machiavelli, or Isambard Kingdom Brunel had designed the single European market they would now be standing in the corner with a dunce's cap on. Financial services, which should be at the heart of the single market and the engine of pan-European growth, are still stuck behind national barriers. It is as if the launch of the single market in 1992 and the introduction of a pan-European currency in 11 countries this January have added nothing to the quality of services that retail consumers or even the average company can enjoy.
The problems have been protectionism - a fear that once the floodgates are open the Anglo-Saxons will dominate financial services - turf wars within the European Commission, and turf wars between the 15 member states. The enemy has been the time it takes to draw up and refine European...
