On 12 November the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee adopted a draft regulation limiting charges for cross-border payments within the EU and for currency conversion services by a broad cross-party majority. Such a regulation would mean that regardless of the currency, the same fees as for national payments within the EU will be charged for all cross-border transfers in Europe. In addition to that, the European Parliament is supporting greater transparency and comparability of charges for currency conversion services (such as card payments or withdrawals in another currency). The European Parliament is also in favour of allowing consumers to permanently block dynamic currency conversion services (usually unfavorable ) from their account.
According to MEP Sven Giegold, the financial and economic policy spokesperson of the Greens/EFA group, this is a considerable step towards consumer protection in European financial markets. He claims that only if consumers know the real costs of their payments with different providers before each transaction, competition benefitting consumers can emerge. The final text of the regulation is to be negotiated in the forthcoming Trialogues between the EU Parliament, the EU commission and the Member States.
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