Brussels, 28/11/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 28 November, the Ecofin Council took note of the state of progress made by the expert group on financial services on the proposed directive on payment services. "Further to discussions within the group and the informal contacts which took place between the (Finnish) Presidency and the European Parliament, a certain degree of convergence of opinions has been achieved", it noted. The Council calls upon the Finnish Presidency to draw from the progress made "to find common ground, in the very near future, to allow the Council and the European Parliament to reach an agreement at first reading, if at all possible".
"Certain issues remain in suspense", the Finnish Presidency admits in its progress report. Among the points on which "the positions of the delegations still diverge" are "questions related to the appropriate prudential requirements applicable to payment institutions, the activities which these institutions can carry out, and the possibility of a derogation to the application of certain parts of the directive for certain smaller institutions and certain physical persons of for certain instruments which are used as a priority for the payment of small sums (micro-payments)".
The main question is whether or not the payment activity constitutes a purely banking activity, or whether new specialised establishments can be accepted, according to a European source. The source went on to characterise two blocs of Member States: the first group (Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom and Sweden), calling for limited requirements in terms of own funds for new payment establishments, and a second group (Germany, Belgium, Spain, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg and Portugal), in favour of a high level of requirements.
The Ecofin Council must send a sufficiently strong political message to the EP so that it, co-legislator on this dossier, will agree to delay its voted first reading on this dossier until spring 2007. Last week, Charlie McCreevy, speaking before the committee on economic and financial affairs, voiced his concerns at the slow speed with which the work was making progress at the Council, which is the source of uncertainty for an industry which has committed to the creation of the European payment space within the euro zone (see EUROPE 9312). The Parliamentary committee of the EP adopted the "Gauzès" report back in mid-September (see EUROPE 9265). (mb)