On successful completion of FSAP, the EC concluded that the EU FS industry still had strong untapped economic and employment growth potential. As a result, the White Paper on Financial Services Policy 2005-2010 published in December 2005 outlined five priorities:

1. Dynamically consolidate progress and ensure sound implementation and enforcement of existing rules

2. Drive through the better regulation principles into all policy making

3. Enhance supervisory convergence

4. Create more competition between service providers, especially those active in retail markets

5. Expand the EU's external influence in globalizing capital markets and indicate that obligations to cooperate and exchange information between supervisors had to be reinforced.

Therefore, before the financial crisis, the EU was attempting to create an integrated, Europe-wide, single market in FS underpinned by a strong regulatory and supervisory framework. Europe became a key player in global FS that is, banking, insurance and securities, along with the US and Japan. In terms of bank assets the EU holds over 50% of the world's assets, with Asia as a group holding around 14% while in relation to insurance, the two outstanding originators of global insurance premiums are the EU and US, each accounting for a third of global premium volume: the EU also contributed 27% to stock market capitalization and 34% to debt securities in 2006/2007.2