Objective
Summary of this section
The EU Commission view is that SEPA will improve efficiency of the EU economy and competitiveness of the banking sector. It will provide improved information and enhanced rights to bank customers. The banks do not accept that SEPA will deliver benefits on the scale envisaged by the EU
The SEPA objectives are interconnected with the objectives of a whole plethora of EU initiatives:
Efficiency – SEPA is an element of the Lisbon agenda, agreed in March 2000. The Lisbon agenda is a 10-year development plan intended to deal with economic stagnation and low productivity. The overall plan deals, inter alia, with creating the conditions for efficient operation of the economy as a whole, and creating such conditions for businesses, especially SMEs. Comprehensive progress reports on the Lisbon agenda are available here
Competitiveness – SEPA is intended to create entirely new levels of competitiveness among banks – especially for business users, but also trickling down to consumers
o Opening up markets
o Creating level playing fields
Elimination of national barriers – National financial borders within the Eurozone area undermine the credibility of the currency, delay financial transactions and create complexity.
Increased market Transparency – through a harmonised set of rules on information requirements
Standardised rights and obligations – for both providers and users of payment services