Single European Payments Area (SEPA): Implementation Delays and Implications for the United States (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised May 2, 2008 |
| Report Number |
RL33952 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Walter W. Eubanks, Government and Finance Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
This CRS report discusses the Single European Payment Area (SEPA) that addresses the systemâs implementation delays and implications for the United States. "The Single European Payments Area (SEPA) is a planned electronic payments system that upon completion in 2010 would allow individuals, small- and medium-sized businesses, and corporations to make electronic payments throughout the European Union as efficiently and safely as such payments are being made on the national level today. The major piece of legislation to create SEPA, the Payment Services Directive was proposed in 2005, but has been tied up in the European Commission. Disagreements among member states about the capital requirements of financial services firms offering cross-border credits and payments services and limiting the antitrust powers of EU member states governing financial services were two of the major reasons for the protracted legislative debates. However, on March 27, 2007, the Council of Economic and Finance Ministers agreed on a compromise on these two issues that still needs the European Parliamentâs approval. Congress is interested in SEPA because it has been monitoring the European Unionâs effort to unify its 27 member countriesâ financial markets. Congress recognizes that upon implementation of these efforts, such as the EU Financial Services Action Plan (FSAP), the Financial Conglomerate Directive (FCD), and now the Payment Services Directive (PSD), could significantly impact American firms.â This report also includes a list of two figures.
