26 April 2018

EPC: Consumer Financial Services Action Plan: payment-related actions

Roxane Romme, Policy Officer at European Commission, DG FISMA, shares her views on latest developments under Single Market activity covered in EC Action plan – more specifically focuses on tackling transparency and fees in cross-border transactions.

A key priority of the Juncker Commission is building a deeper and fairer Single Market, which allows people, services, goods and capital to move freely in an economy with an annual Gross Domestic Product of EUR 15 trillion. The Single Market also aims to give consumers access to better products and cheaper prices, thanks to greater competition.

In March 2017, the European Commission published an Action Plan setting out a strategy to strengthen the EU single market for consumer financial services. The Commission is now delivering on the first two actions of this Action Plan: tackling transparency and fees in cross-border transactions. Cross-border payments are crucial for the integration of the EU economy and play an important role in bringing together EU citizens and businesses. Restrictions and excessive costs affecting cross-border payments are an impediment to the completion of the Single Market.

On 28 March 2018 the European Commission adopted a proposal to make cross-border payments in euro cheaper across the entire EU. Under current rules, there is no difference for euro area residents or businesses if they carry out euro transactions in their own country or with another euro area Member State. The proposal aims to extend this benefit to people and businesses in non-euro countries. This will allow all consumers and businesses to fully reap the benefits of the Single Market when they send money, withdraw cash or pay abroad. All intra-EU cross-border payments in euro outside the euro area will be priced the same – with small or zero fees - as domestic payments in the local official currency. Moreover, the Commission proposed to bring more transparency and competition to currency conversion services when consumers are buying goods or services in a different currency than their own.

In particular, the proposal provides that fees charged for cross-border payments in euro are the same as those that would be charged for equivalent domestic payments in the local currency.

The proposal will also bring about transparency on payments that involve different Union currencies.

Full news

© EPC