22/03/2021 (Agence Europe) – The Council of the European Union formally adopted, on Monday 22 March, at the Agriculture and Fisheries EU Council, conclusions on the European Retail Payments Strategy, presented by the European Commission last September (see EUROPE 12567/1). In the text, Member States support the main pillars of the new strategy, in particular the promotion of the widespread use of instant payments (see EUROPE 12673/19). They also warn of the policy challenges that the emergence of new payment solutions creates in terms of regulation and oversight, including consumer protection, data protection and anti-money laundering. The text had already been endorsed at the level of the Member States’ ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) on 17 March. See the adopted text: https://bit.ly/3cbMQwm (MF)