At the same time, however, the principle of subsidiarity enshrined in the EU Treaty needs to be applied more effectively. For this reason, I am delighted to see that European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has established a Task Force on Subsidiarity to look into which tasks could be re-delegated to member states.
Our periodic stress tests have a specific section on consumer finance vulnerabilities while the recent introduction of REST sets our own framework on the credit risks of real estate exposures. Consumer protection issues – redress mechanisms, financial literacy initiatives and outright better disclosures – are equally relevant.