The directive on markets in financial instruments issued in April 2004 will spur competition by abolishing the requirement to conduct all transactions on regulated markets, encourage the provision of crossborder financial services and strengthen investor protection. The complex process of implementing the directive must be speeded up, at both Community and national level. 4.
•  The long-running expansion in domestic demand contributed to a build-up of pressures on capacity and high rates of domestically generated inflation. So far, weaker demand conditions have been slow to feed through into lower domestic inflation. In the building industry for example, rising prices for raw materials and strong wage inflation have continued to underpin high rates of construction cost inflation.