Saisie d'une demande d'avis sur une proposition législative visant à légiférer sur le service bancaire universel et l'accès aux distributeurs de billets, la BCE salue les objectifs du texte et rappelle que les paiements en espèces facilitent l'inclusion de l'ensemble de la population dans l'économie et qu'il est important de garantir à tous les citoyen ne s la liberté de choix du mode de paiement.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5
1 OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTS IN THE
EU-15 BANKING SECTOR IN 2003 7
1.1 The external environment 7
1.2 Consolidation 8
1.3 Market structure 9
1.4 Internationalisation 10
1.5 Intermediation 11
1.6 Outlook 12
2 BANKING STRUCTURES IN THE NEW
MEMBER STATES IN 2003 13
2.1 The external environment 13
2.2 Market structure 14
2.3 Foreign presence 15
2.4 Products and distribution
channels 16
2.5 Financial structure and
performance 16
2.6 Conclusion 18
3 EU BANKS’ STRATEGIES AND STRATEGIC
DEVELOPMENTS 19
3.1 Strategic risks and other sources
of risk for 2004 19
3.2 Medium-term strategies 21
3.2.1 Current strategic targets 21
3.2.2 Expected strategic changes 22
3.3 Implications for the EU banking
sector structures 23
4 OUTSOURCING IN THE EU BANKING
SECTOR 25
4.1 What is outsourcing? 25
4.2 Perspective of EU banks 25
4.2.1 Relevance of outsourcing 25
4.2.2 Business models 26
4.2.3 Activities outsourced 27
4.2.4 Motives for outsourcing 28
4.2.5 Risks and risk mitigation 28
4.3 Perspective of EU authorities 30
4.4 Conclusion and outlook 31
ANNEX 1 STRUCTURAL INDICATORS OF THE
EU-15 BANKING SECTOR 33
ANNEX 2 METHODOLOGICAL NOTE ON THE
STRUCTURAL INDICATORS 49

Introduction 5
General Terms and Acronyms 7
Bulgaria 11
Czech Republic 41
Denmark 65
Estonia 95
Cyprus 123
Latvia 145
Lithuania 171
Hungary 191
Malta 221
Poland 239
Romania 279
Slovakia 303
Sweden 329
United Kingdom 355
Glossary 389
editorial group 411

Introduction 5
General Terms and Acronyms 7
euro area 11
Belgium 73
Germany 99
Ireland 137
Greece 159
Spain 181
France 219
Italy 253
Luxembourg 285
Netherlands 303
Austria 331
Portugal 357
Slovenia 389
Finland 411
Glossary 437
editorial group 459