Article 3 Beneficiaries of the Programme

Finance Watch and Better Finance shall be beneficiaries of the Programme (‘beneficiaries’).

In order to benefit from the Programme, a beneficiary shall remain a non-governmental, non-profit legal entity, independent of industry, commerce or business. It shall have no conflicting interests and shall represent through its members the interests of Union consumers and other end-users in the area of financial services.

In order to represent the interests of consumers and other financial services end-users in as many Member States as possible, a beneficiary shall seek to expand its network of active members within the Member States and to ensure comprehensive geographical coverage.

The Commission shall assist the beneficiaries in identifying potential members in Member States. The Commission shall also ensure that each beneficiary continues to comply with the criteria set out in the first and second subparagraphs of this paragraph for the duration of the Programme, by including them in the annual work programmes referred to in Article 7 and by assessing annually whether the beneficiaries meet those criteria, before awarding the action grants referred to in Article 4.

In the event that the beneficiaries merge, the resulting legal entity shall become the sole beneficiary of the Programme.