Involving consumers in policy-making
To better involve users of financial services in the policy-making process, the European Commission has
- set up a user group for financial services users
- supported civil society organisations
Financial Services User Group (FSUG)
The Financial Services User Group (FSUG) is a group representing the interests of consumers, retail investors and small businesses. FSUG provides the commission with input to inform its policy-making in the area of finance.
Support for consumer organisations
Since 2012, the EU has supported 2 non-profit organisations, Finance Watch and Better Finance, to help develop expertise relevant to consumers and other stakeholders outside of the financial industry. For the 2017-2020 period, the EU has adopted the following programme
- Regulation (EU) 2017/826 establishing an Union programme to support the involvement of financial end-users in policy-making
- Commission decisions establishing the work programme for the implementation of the Union programme
The Commission has given a positive evaluation of the results of this programme. The assessment has been supported by an external study