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The Commission and the ECB issued a joint statement providing further clarification to encourage the European Payments Council to launch the SEPA Direct Debit scheme on 1 November 2009. In particular, the Commission makes clear that a multi-lateral interchange fee for direct debit transactions does not seem justified for efficiency reasons and therefore does not appear compatible with EU anti-trust rules.
The Commission and the ECB also noted that the forthcoming approval of the revised Regulation on cross-border payments will provide a three-year transitional regime for the SDD business model.