Karel Lannoo prefaces his survey of the priorities for the new European Commission in the area of financial markets with a warning that the hangover from the past five years is huge and that public opinion on the role of the financial sector will continue to be critical for some time to come. Implementation and enforcement will need to be followed-up carefully, as any flaws could rapidly attract negative headlines. In this commentary, he finds that three themes stand out: moving back to normal in financial markets regulation, adequate implementation and enforcement, and access to finance. The latter, in particular, should be the overarching theme, in all its dimensions — access to credit for SMEs, access to capital markets for new ventures and access to finance for households.

Karel Lannoo is Chief Executive Officer and a Senior Research Fellow at CEPS. This Commentary is one of a series prepared by senior CEPS researchers aimed at contributing to the selection and review process of the new European Commission.