The MEPs of the committee on economic and monetary affairs (ECON) will take position on Monday 5 November on the draft report by Eva Maydell (EPP, Bulgaria) on the proposal to harmonise the costs of cross-border payments in euros throughout the EU (see EUROPE 11991).
In a major breakthrough, the MEPs have finally agreed to extend the effect of the regulation to cross-border payments in currencies other than Euro (see EUROPE 12085), a European source told us on Tuesday 30 October.
Readers may recall that the rapporteur shared the Commission's view that this extension would not only be too unwieldy, but would bring very few advantages, as the proposal already covers 80% of cross-border transactions of non-Eurozone countries.
This position disappointed the S&D and ECR groups in particular. According to the same source, the extension is now supported by a large majority, with the ALDE, Greens/EFA and even some of the EPP members having rallied to it, leaving the rapporteur somewhat “isolated” in her position.
Theoretically, there is political agreement between the groups on the new transparency criteria for currency conversion, although some, such as the ECR, still need to be convinced as to how this will work in practice, particularly in the banking sector. Under the compromise text, currency conversion service providers would have to notify consumers of the total cost of the transaction in a single value.
MEPs have, moreover, agreed on an explicit inclusion of bank transfers in the scope of application of the regulation.
There is also consensus on the rapporteur's proposals to remove the transitional gap and technical regulatory standards to govern these practices.
The first version of the compromises were a disappointment to several groups, according to the same source, who added that the rapporteur had ultimately been able to take her colleagues' preferences on board, leading to a “far more realistic” text with a “higher level of consumer protection”.
Overall, therefore, there should be no difficulties with the vote and the text should be adopted by a strong majority. A provisional date for an initial trilogue session with the Council, which adopted its position in June (see EUROPE 12050), has already been set for 19 November. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)