mr president i would like to commend the report for including a very positive mention about sepa the single euro payments area
time and again this parliament has demanded a rapid sepa migration and the reasons are simple
the commission's impact assessment quotes a study that sepa would save eur three hundred billion in the eu economy in six years time
these savings are due to increased competition via common standards and processes
this will also save time and stress for all europeans who need to carry out payments in other countries
i also strongly agree with the report when it states that the public economic support to banks and other companies in the economic crisis has distorted competition
like many of my colleagues here this morning i urge the commission to provide an analysis of these distortions
let me add one more thought on the need for common standards and processes
a lot of inventions in the future will be based on information and communication technologies
we need more competition in the ict business and this could be encouraged by increased use of open-source code in europe
i expect that europe will in this way become more competitive in this crucial field in relation to the us and other major economic areas as mr hökmark said previously
