EIOPA Work Programme 2013 - EIOPA - Europa

4. Consumer Protection and Financial
Innovation
EIOPA welcomes the role that the Regulation assigns it in order to contribute to
enhancing customer protection 1 , in particular by fostering the protection of
policyholders, occupational pension scheme members and beneficiaries hereby
adding value to the Member States of the European Union. Its tasks in this area
include, amongst others, analysing consumer trends, reviewing financial literacy
initiatives, developing industry training standards, contributing to common
disclosure rules, monitoring existing/new financial activities and assessing the
impact of the EU acquis on financial innovation. EIOPA also contributes to the
assessment of the need for a European network of national insurance guarantee
schemes.
In terms of the tools available to achieve these goals, EIOPA may inter alia:
• develop technical standards to ensure consistent harmonisation,
• issue guidelines and recommendations with a view to promoting the safety
and soundness of markets and convergence of regulatory practice;
• collect the necessary information concerning financial institutions in order
to carry out our duties;
• develop new practical instruments and convergence tools to promote
common supervisory approaches and practices such as Best Practices
Reports; or
• issue opinions to the European Parliament, the Council or the Commission.
Moreover, EIOPA will by end 2012 have adopted procedures for the issuance of
warnings in case a financial activity poses a serious threat to its core objectives
and, under certain conditions and in specific situations, temporary
prohibitions/restrictions of certain types of financial activities. Should such
threats arise, EIOPA stands ready to issue warnings and/or temporary
prohibitions/restrictions.
1
It is stressed that when contributing to the enhancement of consumer protection, EIOPA considers
the needs of consumers as a whole rather than as individuals.
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© EIOPA 2012