madam president the legal affairs committee supports the proposal for a regulation of the european parliament and of the council on cross-border payments in the community
the aims of the commission initiative are as follows firstly to replace the existing regulation in order to adapt it to market developments secondly to advance the protection of consumer rights and to provide an adequate legal framework for the development of a modern and efficient payment system within the eu and thirdly to achieve an internal market for payment services in euro
the legal affairs committee was appointed to submit an opinion to the lead committee on economic and monetary affairs
in the opinion it was proposed that member states may appoint existing institutions to act as competent authorities and to utilise or extend existing procedures concerning cross-border payment services
it is important to apply and improve already existing measures and redress bodies to deal effectively with complaints and disputes regarding this proposal
it is important to point out that the principles of proportionality subsidiarity and especially the extended principle of equality of charges for cross-border payments should comply with the ec treaty article ninety-five one
cross-border payments in euro require a community-wide approach because the applicable rules and principles have to be the same in all member states in order to achieve legal certainty and a level playing field for all european payments market stakeholders
