§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the Government's position is on the proposed EU Directive on Consumer Credit (Draft September 2002); and if she will make a statement. [114381]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe Government supports the Commission's overall objective of creating an internal market that provides a high level of consumer protection enabling consumers to shop cross border with confidence and lenders to trade with legal certainty. However, we have serious concerns about the current draft delivering this objective and believe it needs substantial change.
We aim to secure recognition that mortgages require significantly different regulation than other forms of consumer credit and therefore should be outside the scope of the Directive. We also recognise that the Directive would prove a significant burden on credit unions and are therefore seeking to exclude them from the scope of the Directive.
We are fighting hard to ensure that we maintain the joint and several liability protections that currently govern credit card use in the UK and are highly valued by consumers.