Second, it is of course vital that consumers reap the benefits of an integrated European financial services market. This is why our second strategic objective is improving the retail side of financial services. The retail agenda is about greater consumer choice in financial services and rigorous, efficient and fair consumer protection. The hot topic at the moment in retail financial services is obviously e-commerce. Potential savings are enormous.
Economies of scale mean new markets can be created where none existed before.
There are some very difficult legal issues to overcome. In the end this will come down to a question of political choice and confidence. And the stark choice is this. These are major political choices. But what we must at all cost avoid is drifting along with fifteen different sets of rules, thus fragmenting European markets.