Brussels, 17/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - On 13 February, the European Commission published a policy paper questioning the self-regulatory objectives which, until now, had been applied by the parties interested in implementation of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). The Commission, which hopes the new regime will be operational for 2010, criticises the preparatory work done by the European Payments Council (EPC) - the body set up by the banking industry to plan the regime - and threatens regulatory intervention unless deadlines are kept. Gerard Hartsink, EPC President, firmly rejected this criticism and highlighted the fact that the European Payments Council is responsible for setting out payment standards and norms and not for implementing them, The Financial Times reports.
The European Savings Bank Group (ESBG) states in a press release that it would have expected the Commission to support the banking industry in its self-regulatory attempts. «It is essential that the Commission reconciles its vision of SEPA with the project risk undertaken by the banking industry», ESBG states, noting that the Commission only now expresses criticism (…) although the Commission had been kept closely and regularly informed of every development since 2003. According to the ESBG, some statements in the Commission's report are unfounded, such as the affirmation that SEPA will allow enormous earnings and potential saving for society. ESBG stresses that no impact assessment or any cost-profit analysis has ever been made. ZKA, representing the German banking industry, also slams the Commission's paper and makes an urgent appeal for maintaining the principle of self-regulation, otherwise, it warns in a press release, this will entail a serious threat for the creation of a single area of payment in euros.
On 1 December 2005, the Commission had presented a proposal of directive on the creation of a single payments area in Europe allowing crossborder payments to be made by credit card, debit card or bank transfer as simply as national payments and with no extra cost. This new legal framework must also allow the creation of SEPA in the run up to 2010 (see EUROPE 9080).