Inter-institutional negotiations between the Council and the European Parliament continued on Wednesday 24 October on the proposal for a Directive on combating fraud and counterfeiting of non-cash means of payment.
The discussions were held in a "constructive atmosphere", with everyone agreeing that rapid progress towards an agreement must be made by the end of the year, according to a European source.
According to the same source, the discussions focused on the issue of victims' rights. As a reminder, the Parliament, which adopted its position in September (see EUROPE 12088), is very attached to it, particularly as regards the right to compensation for the damage suffered.
However, in its general approach (see EUROPE 11978), the Council deleted this article, considering that the issue of victims' rights was already covered by other specific legislation.
During the meeting, the Parliament would have insisted on reinserting a provision in the text and the Austrian Presidency of the Council would in any case have been open to discussion.
Another point for discussion is the level of sanctions. Here again, the positions of the two institutions diverge, since the Council advocates lower levels of penalties than the Commission's initial proposal, while the Parliament, for its part, wants more severity.
There has been no conclusion at this stage on this point, which should be discussed again at a future trilogue, the date of which has not yet been set. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)