EU cap for credit card fees - EUbusiness Week newsletter 655
EUbusiness Week 655 top stories: France angles for new EU timetable on budget limits; EU-Africa summit agrees plan to stop migration tragedies; Poland calls for an EU energy union amid Ukraine crisis; EU reform to scrap mobile roaming fees; British EU membership key for success: car industry; Japan posts top growth in clean energy: survey
Publisher's Note
Euro-MPs this week voted to fast-track a cap on the fees banks charge
retailers for processing shoppers' payments. Bank card payment fees are
estimated to cost EU retailers over EUR 10 bn a year, but the fees are
not clear to card users.
The new rules - capping fees at 0.3% of the transaction value
for credit card payments and 0.2% for debit cards - would apply to both
cross-border and domestic transactions in the EU. They are not a done
deal, however, as swift adoption of the bill depends on agreement with
the 28 Member States, as well as approval of the new MEPs after the
Euro-elections.
More ...
Regards,
Nick Prag
Publisher, EUbusiness
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1. France angles for new EU timetable on budget limits
France's reshuffled government took a combative tone with Brussels on
Thursday, with new Finance Minister Michel Sapin saying the "pace" of
deficit reduction would be raised in EU talks.
More ...
Undermining EU budget rules undermines trust: ECB
2. EU-Africa summit agrees plan to stop migration tragedies
EU and African leaders trying to stop migrants from crossing the
Mediterranean in perilous conditions unveiled a raft of measures on
Thursday designed to boost development and crack down on human
trafficking.
More ...
EU-Africa: What's in the relationship?
3. Poland calls for an EU energy union amid Ukraine crisis
Poland has begun campaigning in favour of an EU energy union in order to
reduce the bloc's dependence on Russian supplies, Polish Prime Minister
Donald Tusk said on Tuesday.
More ...
US-EU energy strategy targets Russia and the long-term
4. EU reform to scrap mobile roaming fees
The European Parliament has endorsed a sweeping package of EU
telecommunications reforms, including a much-awaited measure to end
roaming charges for cross-border mobile phone use.
More ...
5. British EU membership key for success: car industry
Britain's membership of the European Union is "crucial" for the success
of the automaking sector, the nation's car industry body said in a key
report on Wednesday.
More ...
6. Japan posts top growth in clean energy: survey
Japan last year stepped up spending on clean energy at a faster rate
than any other country, despite a drop in the world's overall
investment, a study said on Thursday.
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EUROPEAN LAW
Power cables fine: the Commission has fined 11 producers of high-voltage
power cables a total of EUR 300 m for operating a cartel that secretly
shared out the global market.
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Latest Court of Justice judgements
EU Law Firms
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Inside the EU Institutions
Council Watch
China: Chinese leader Xi Jinping, on the last leg of a maiden tour of
Europe, on Monday made a ground-breaking visit to European Union
headquarters underlining China's bid to firm up bilateral ties.
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Greece to get EUR 6.3 bn loan slice in April: Eurogroup
EU launches Central Africa military operation
TV debates boost British eurosceptic leader
Council ...
Commission Watch
Aid to Africa: the head of the EU's huge aid programme to Africa warns
that tying investment to democratic reforms risks backfiring if viewed
as neo-colonialism.
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Netherlands brings deficit back under EU limit
Commission ...
Parliament Watch
Magnitsky: the European Parliament voted Wednesday to demand EU
sanctions on 32 Russian officials implicated in the 2009 death of lawyer
Sergei Magnitsky and later attempts to suppress the case and harass his
family.
More ...
Europe needs a 'New Deal': Tsipras
This week MEPs approved an informal agreement with the Council stating
that the emissions trading system will cover flights within the EU up
until 2017; voted to bar internet access providers from blocking or
slowing down services (such as Skype) for economic or other reasons; and
signed off the Commission's 2012 accounts - with reservations over the
high error rate in agriculture and regional policy spending by Member
States.
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EU diary
7 Apr, European Parliament Committee Meetings
9 Apr, Commission adopts Green Paper on mobile Health
10-11 Apr, European Competition Day
10 Apr, European Parliament Committee Meetings
The Week Ahead
Long-term diary
RESOURCES
EU Law Firms
Summaries of EU Legislation
EU Decision-Making
Treaties of the European Union
Key EU Legal Terms
Other news on EUbusiness this week
Thousands march in Spain against austerity 3-AprECB 'thanks' IMF for advice on rates 3-Apr
EU watchdog urges airlines to avoid Crimea airspace 3-Apr
'No deflation prospects' in Europe: ECB 2-Apr
Eurozone business activity rallies: PMI index 2-Apr
Swiss immigration vote ticks off watchmakers 30-Mar