Brussels, 10/09/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 10 September, in an effort to ensure the success of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), the European Commission adopted a communication on “Completing SEPA: a Roadmap for 2009-2012” in response to the communication on “Driving European recovery”. The former communication provides a framework for action within six priority areas where greater involvement of all relevant actors is required in order to achieve the full implementation of the system.
The Single Euro Payment Area, or SEPA, is an initiative of the European banking sector and aims at creating an integrated market for electronic payment services in euros, with harmonised sets of business rules and technical standards. With these new European payments, consumers, companies, merchants and public administrations will be able to make payments under the same conditions throughout Europe as easily as within their own country.
The communication adopted on Thursday, is in line with the view of the European Central Bank (ECB) and puts forward a roadmap clearly outlining what measures to take, what actors are involved and what deadlines need to be respected. It presents a series of actions to be undertaken by EU and national authorities, industry and users over the next three years and according to the European commissioner in charge of the internal market, Charlie McCreevy, will make a “a decisive contribution in helping SEPA successfully achieving its last miles”. The Commission provides a framework for action within six priority areas: 1) Foster migration towards new transfers: Rapid migration is crucial in order to minimise the costly period of running legacy and SEPA systems in parallel. Public authorities should play a key role here. An efficient monitoring of the migration process will help anticipate and remedy possible migration problems. The European Commission affirmed that by setting an end-date to the SEPA changeover, they should be able to significantly boost the SEPA migration process. (2) Increase SEPA awareness and promote SEPA products: All parties involved in the SEPA changeover need to be fully informed about its numerous benefits. This could be achieved through tailor-made information and communication initiatives. (3) Design a sound legal environment and strengthen SEPA compliance: The removal of legal barriers and the design of proper business models which are fully in line with competition rules are cornerstones for a smooth SEPA take-up and increased competition in the payments market. In a self-regulatory context, efficient compliance monitoring deserves special attention. (4) Promote innovation: SEPA should be a driver for the modernisation of retail payment markets, facilitating the use of internet and mobile phones for making payments and promoting the development of environment-friendly e-invoicing solutions. (5) Ensure necessary standardisation, interoperability and security: Interoperable, open and secure standards are essential in a network industry such as payments in order to reap the full benefits of SEPA. (6) Clarify and improve SEPA governance: An over-arching and efficient governance mechanism that meets the needs of the users is needed at EU level. The main objectives of the new governance structure should be to define a clear strategic vision for SEPA, monitor and support SEPA migration and ensure transparency and accountability. EuroCommerce, an association for retail, wholesale, European and international trade interests immediately responded to the Commission's communication by welcoming the “clarifications” made by the document. For further information on SEPA:
(http: //ec.europa.eu/internal_market/payments/sepa/index_en.htm). (O.L./transl/rh)