On Wednesday 18 June, the Member States’ representatives to the European Union (Coreper) approved the EU Council’s negotiating mandate for the payment services legislative package. This package, consisting of a directive (PSD3) and a regulation (PSR), aims to modernise the EU regulatory framework for payment services and electronic money in order to better tackle fraud, strengthen consumer protection, encourage technological innovation and increase the transparency of charges.
The Council has strengthened the anti-fraud dimension by also including providers of electronic communications services - such as internet operators or messaging platforms - in the scope of preventive measures.
It also made it clear that consumers should not suffer as a result of fraudulent behaviour, and called for rules fully aligned with EU data protection law.
The agreement between EU countries will enable the Danish Presidency of the Council to begin negotiations with the European Parliament, which adopted its position in April 2024 (see EUROPE 13350/23).
The issue of the ‘burden of proof’, which makes it possible to attribute responsibility to the consumer or the payment service provider in the event of fraud, had been at the heart of discussions between MEPs, giving rise to certain concerns in the industry. However, the text was agreed by the two largest political families in Parliament, the S&D and the EPP.
Links to the EU Council’s negotiating mandate on ‘PSR’: https://aeur.eu/f/hea ; and on ‘PSD3’: https://aeur.eu/f/heb (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)