The Financial Services Action Plan consists of a set of 42 measures, designed to strengthen the European financial industry by encouraging free market access, competition and the creation of more efficient markets. Some of these measures took the shape of EU law, either as a Regulation or as a Directive, such as the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) and the Collateral Directive.
This third structural shift is not on the agenda today, but the events of the past year have again emphasised the importance of addressing these vulnerabilities. The volatility in energy markets, exposures to hard-to-predict physical risks and the challenges of the transition to net zero are all examples of vulnerabilities that have an impact on the financial sector.