Financial education initiatives of the European Commission

1
Financial education initiatives of the European
Commission

• International Conference on Financial Education
• Washington, 7-8 May 2008
• Daniel Kosicki, European Commission
• Financial Services Policy

2
Outline

• Financial education in the EU
• Current initiatives of the European Commission
• Dolceta module Financial Services
• Dolceta new financial literacy module for
  teachers

3
EU competence

• EU core task creation of the Internal Market
• Education competence of the Member States
• No Single Financial Market without empowered
  consumers
• Subsidiarity principle

4
Communication on Financial Education

• Adopted by the Commission on 18/12/2007
• Policy document announcing the Commissions views
  and actions
• To raise awareness, promote, facilitate provision
• 8 principles for financial education providers
• 4 initiatives

5
EC Initiatives (1) - Network of Practitioners

• To exchange best practices and advise the
  Commission
• 25 experts (government, industry, consumers,
  academia)
• Experts to be independent of external influence
• Two meetings per year
• Call for applications to be published soon

6
EC Initiatives (2) Database

• Online reference library of financial education
  schemes and research
• Searchable by various criteria (country, theme,
  target audience, method of delivery, nature of
  provider)
• Publicly accessible on the Europa website (end
  2008)
• To be regularly updated

7
EC Initiatives (3) - EU Patronage

• Honorary support logo of the European
  Commission, message of support, participation
• Events by public and private actors
• Case by case selection

8
EC Initiatives (4) Dolceta

• Development of On-Line Consumer Education Tools
  for Adults
• EC in partnership with the Member States
• For consumers and professionals in each MS
• Information interactive material
• 2 existing modules 5 under development

9
Dolceta - modules

• Consumer Rights (2006)
• Financial Services (2006)
• Food and Product Safety (end 2008)
• Training for teachers (end 2008)
• Liberalised services of general interest (2009)
• Sustainable consumption (2009)
• Financial Literacy tools for teachers (2010)

10
Dolceta Financial Services

• To strengthen competencies of adult consumers
  (FAQ and common problems)
• 6 themes and 3 levels of difficulty
• Legal information and practical examples adapted
  for each country
• Training interactive exercises and quizzes
• Deepening knowledge links to websites, glossary
  of terms

11
www.dolceta.eu
12
Two existing modules
13
Listing the content by difficulty level
14
Listing the content by theme
15
Single course - example
16
Single course example (2)
17
Interactive exercise - example
18
Interactive exercise results
19
Quiz - example
20
Quiz example (2)
21
Links to external resources - example
22
Glossary - example
23
Dolceta new module on financial literacy for
teachers

• Interactive web-based training tool
• To facilitate including financial literacy in
  lesson programmes
• Targeted at primary and secondary schools
• Translated and adapted to circumstances of each
  MS
• For voluntary use

24
Dolceta Financial Literacy content

• Practical advice and suggestions lesson plans,
  ideas, tools (games, quizzes, exercises, stories)
• To fit in easily in the current national
  curricula (maths, history, economics,
  citizenship)
• Topics based on the Financial Services module
  those relevant to pupils/students
• Complementing existing projects (EU/MS)

25
Dolceta Financial Literacy elaboration

• Sponsor European Commission (SANCO MARKT)
• Contractor EUCEN a network of over 200
  universities in 43 countries
• Expert and Design Teams developing the common
  content
• National Development Teams adaptations
• Starting now with the timeline of 2 years

26
Conclusions

• Financial education is high on the EU agenda
• Commissions role to promote appropriate actions
  and policies in the Member States
• DOLCETA Financial Services practical tool for
  enhancing competences of adult consumers
• New DOLCETA financial literacy module for
  teachers to facilitate provision of financial
  education in primary and secondary schools