Press Release: Financial services: integration of EU markets will boost growth, jobs and prosperity says new research

New research conducted for the European Commission ('Quantification of the macro-economic impact of integration of EU financial markets', released 12 November 2002) suggests the integration of European Union financial markets will bring significant benefits to businesses, investors and consumers and EU-wide real GDP will increase by 1.1% - or €130 billion in 2002 prices over a decade or so. Total employment will increase by 0.5%. Businesses will be able to get cheaper finance: integration of EU equity markets will reduce the cost of equity capital by 0.5% and a 0.4% decrease in the cost of corporate bond finance is expected to follow. Investors will benefit from higher risk-adjusted returns on savings.

http://ec.europa.eu/comm/internal_market/en/finances/mobil/overview.htm http://ec.europa.eu/comm/internal_market/en/finances/mobil/overview.htm

---