Cross-Border Payments (Regulation)

Payment service providers must not charge higher fees for cross-border payments than for national payments. Thus, the EU Commission intends to cheapen cross-border payments and to improve payment transactions in the EU. The existing principle of equality of charges for credit transfers and cash card services is to be extended to direct debits.

cepPolicyBrief

The Commission's approach is mistaken. The proposed Regulation undermines effective competition among payment service providers. The required regulatory framework was already established by the Directive on Payment Services; EU-wide harmonised payment schemes were developed by the banking industry. Any further intervention into the market development would be rather detrimental. Legal competences do not exist.

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Cross-Border Payments COM(2008) 640 (publ. 08.27.2014)	PDF	81 KB	Download