Brussels, 05/11/2004 (Agence Europe) - The CESAME group has been operational since July 2004, focussing on measures to promote integration of payment and payment delivery systems for the post-sales operations required to ensure the transfer of ownership and payment from seller to purchaser. The European Commission has announced that it is establishing two other working groups to look at domestic legal systems and attempt to keep costs down along with the legal uncertainty connected with such payments. The ECOFIN Council of 16 November is expected to endorse these initiatives.
The CESAME group is made up of representatives from the private and public sectors. It has several aims - to monitor and assess the elimination by the market of obstacles identified in the reports of the previous group, Giovannini; to help the Commission assess the costs and benefits of scrapping these barriers and establishing a more integrated environment at Community level; and publicising the results of its work among business.
At its second meeting at the end of October, CESAME discussed the results of the public consultation exercise on payment on delivery launched by the Commission in April (see EUROPE of 29 April, p.11). The Commission said it had received more than 80 responses. Most professionals welcome the idea of a directive as long as the legislation is accompanied by a cost-benefit analysis and does not lead to a uniform Europe-wide system. They disagree on the approach to be taken to access rights and the regulatory framework, but the stakeholders taking part in the consultation expressed unanimous support for the CESAME group. CESAME will initially be working on defining common vocabulary for post market operations.
The Commission will soon be establishing two other working groups, both of which will look at obstacles to integrating payment and payment on delivery systems in the public sphere. One will consider domestic legislation in force, the other will look at cutting costs of post market operations and legal uncertainty. The participants in the Commission's consultation process gave virtually unanimous support to the idea of a working group studying national taxation systems. The only opposition came from the representatives of British and Irish bodies.