EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy has warned that unless Europe streamlined its internal payments flow it would fail to achieve an effective single market.
He described the Single European Payments Area (SEPA), which will be implemented gradually from 2008 in the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, as 'a huge opportunity for Europe.'
From early 2008, consumers will be provided with bank cards that can be used throughout the SEPA zone, enabling them to transfer funds and set up automatic withdrawals under identical conditions. SEPA facilities, which should be fully in place by around 2010, will not apply to cheques, which speed up their decline as a payment option.
McCreevy has urged the European banking industry to adhere to the timetable for the establishment of the SEPA. 'Our objective is to make payments throughout the whole of the (SEPA) area as easy and convenient as domestic payments are today,' he told a gathering at the French Banking Federation. 'This is a logical step after the introduction of the euro,' he added.
McCreevy said that to meet the challenge of globalisation, it was essential 'to maximize the potential of the single market'.
'And the lifeblood running through our businesses and economy within the single market is our payments. If we do not have efficient means of payment, then we cannot have an efficient single market', he cautioned.
