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Christa Randzio-Plath (see
feature 5) has outlined for us the current undertakings of the
European Parliament and the differences between European Union Member
States.
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1/ What is the European Parliament currently working on in
regard to SEPA?
Since 1 July 2002, Regulation 2560/2001 requires that fees
charged for euro withdrawals (essentially from ATMs), and bankcard
payments be identical, whether the transaction is national or cross-border.
As of 1 July this year, this same principle of equal fees will also
apply to cross border credit transfers. Without waiting for 1 July
2004, the date on which the Commission is due to present to the European
Parliament and the Council an initial report on this issue, the European
Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs organised
a public hearing of experts last 17 March in order to collect the
initial reactions of the main stakeholders (banks, consumer associations
and central banks). Indeed, it is essential that the European Parliament
monitor this regulation on a constant basis and continue with its
own work, at the same time as the Commission pursues its own undertakings,
for example, to gain a precise understanding of the changes in charges
for domestic transactions, since they become the reference for cross-border
transactions.
The Parliament has welcomed the recent initiative of the Commission
on the Single Payment Area whose consultations should result in a
Communication next June. It does, however, consider it premature to
give an opinion as to the need to legislate again in this area.
2/ What are the current differences between European
countries?
The Member States of the European Union still retain marked
national differences in the area of payment systems for small amounts,
which can be attributed to cultural and historic reasons. This is,
for example, the case with bank fees: the regulation is applied very
differently from one Member State to another. In Germany, for example,
citizens have made numerous complaints about this, because the application
is resulting in higher fees for some domestic payments. However, the
divisions by stakeholder (banks or consumer associations, etc.) largely
transcend domestic divisions. |
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