I am aware that consumer groups certainly feel very disappointed with the results so far. I do not wish to prejudge the outcome of these discussions. I will meet stakeholders to hear their views, and once the issues have been clarified, I will also involve national authorities. I really hope that we will have, in the near future, a set of principles and an agreement on who should check and monitor the codes that are necessary. I am also engaged in high-level contacts with credit card associations and banks to see what can be done to ensure that more chargeback services are made available to consumers.
Chargeback systems offer consumers important, tangible protection when paying with credit cards.
Nothing undermines more consumer confidence than concerns about privacy and confidentiality, as well as redress. Technology can go a long way to solve the former, law the latter. Now, the Chairman has also mentioned specific pieces or work or legislation, and I would like to give a brief update on those. On the distance selling of financial services , we were not able to make any real progress during the French Presidency. I now intend to take stock of the matter, also taking into account the question of e-commerce and financial services.