19/12/2018 (Agence Europe) – On Wednesday 19 December, Member States' ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) validated the interinstitutional agreement reached between representatives of the European Parliament and the EU Council last week on the proposal to harmonise the costs of cross-border payments in euros across the EU (see EUROPE 11991). As a reminder, the final text does not include the extension of the Rules of Procedure to the alignment of cross-border payment costs in currencies other than the euro, as requested by the European Parliament (), but it does request that the European Commission reviews the desirability of such an extension three years after the entry into force of the Regulation (). The provisions of the Rules of Procedure on cost alignment will start to apply from 15 December 2019, while the provisions on currency conversion will apply between one and two years later. The agreement has yet to be approved by Parliament. (MF)