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One of the basic elements needed for the success of SEPA is a common legal basis. This means that SEPA payments and related services are subject to a harmonised legal framework, irrespective of the countries involved in the transaction.
Regulations are the most direct form of EU law: as soon as they are passed, they have binding legal force throughout every Member State, on a par with national laws. National governments do not have to take action themselves to implement EU regulations.
They are different from directives, which are addressed to Member States, who must then take action to make them part of national law, and decisions, which apply in specific cases only, involving particular authorities or individuals.
Under the Treaty of Lisbon the ordinary co-decision procedure consists in the joint adoption by the European Parliament and the Council of a regulation, directive or decision of a proposal from the European Commission.
In December 2010 the European Commission published a proposal for a regulation establishing EU-wide requirements for credit transfers and direct debits in euro. The main objective was to establish technical and business requirements, setting deadlines for migrating credit transfers and direct debits in euro from national to Union-wide standards.
The regulation came into effect on 31 March 2012, following its adoption by the EU Council and the European Parliament in February 2012.
In its opinion published in April 2011, the ECB welcomed and supported the European Commission’s proposal to impose end-dates for migration to the SEPA credit transfer and SEPA direct debit schemes by means of a Union regulation. A Union act of general application, binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States, was considered essential for the successful migration to SEPA, as the project would otherwise face a serious risk of failure.
Major elements for a common legal basis were established with the adoption of the
The PSD provides a harmonised legal framework for the European Union, which is necessary for the smooth functioning of SEPA payments. The PSD is, however, not restricted only to SEPA but applies to all payment services within the European Union, both at the cross-border and national levels. It covers three main areas:
Regulation (EC) No 924/2009 on cross-border payments in the Community eliminates the differences in charges for cross-border and national payments in euro. It applies to payments in euro in all EU Member States. The basic principle is that the charges for payment transactions in euro offered by a payment service provider (e.g. a bank) have to be the same whether the payment is a national or cross-border payment.
The Regulation applies to all electronically processed payments, including credit transfers, direct debits, cash withdrawals at cash dispensers (ATMs), payments by means of debit and credit cards, and money remittance.
All non-euro area Member States have the possibility to extend the application of this Regulation to their national currency.
This Regulation was amended on 31 March 2012 by Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2012 establishing technical and business requirements for credit transfers and direct debits in euro and amending Regulation (EC) No 924/2009.
Regulation (EC) No 924/2009 replaced the previous Regulation (EC) No 2560/2001 as of 1 November 2009.
Regulation (EC) No 1781/2006 on information on the payer accompanying transfers of funds lays down rules for payment service providers to send information on the payer throughout the payment chain. This is done for the purposes of prevention, investigation and detection of money laundering and terrorist financing.
The Regulation transposes Special Recommendation VII (SRVII) of the Financial Action Task Force into EU law and is part of the EU Plan of Action to Combat Terrorism.
Other legal acts with relevance to SEPA are:
