13/06/2013 (Agence Europe) - End of investigation into online payments. The European Commission announced on Thursday 13 June that it had closed an antitrust investigation into the standardisation process for payments over the internet (e-Payments) carried out by the European Payments Council (EPC). The EPC is the decision-making and coordination body of the European banking industry in relation to payments. The Commission had concerns that through its work on standards for e-Payments, and in particular the e-Payments Framework, the EPC could exclude new entrants not linked to a bank from the e-Payments market, thus leading to higher prices for online traders and ultimately for consumers too. In the course of the investigation the EPC announced its decision to stop the development of the e-Payments Framework and any other standardisation initiatives that would have the same object or effect. As a result, the complainant in this case, Sofort AG, withdrew its complaint and the Commission decided to close its investigation. The Commission says, however, that it is considering proposing legislation to establish objective and non-discriminatory rules for all players active in the e-Payments market. These rules would be aimed at ensuring that customers can make secure payments while ensuring that new players are not prevented from entering the market. (LC/transl.fl)