On 13 October, the European Commission (EC) presented a proposal for a new Directive on electronic money with the objective of modernising the provisions of Directive 2000/46/EC on the taking up, pursuit of and prudential supervision of the business of electronic money institutions (''Electronic Money Directive''). The EC also intends to establish a coherent legal framework for the payment institutions covered by Directive 2007/64/EC on payment services in the internal market (''The Payment Services Directive'').
According to the proposal, the objective of the new directive is to enable the development of new, innovative and secure electronic money services, providing market access to new players and fostering real and effective competition between all market participants.
The Directive will not apply to mobile operators if, in offering payment facilities with respect to the acquisition of goods or services, they do act solely as intermediaries between the user of the payment service and the supplier of the goods or services.
Proposal for a Directive on the taking up, pursuit and prudential supervision of the business of electronic money institutionshttp://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2008:0627:FIN:EN:PDF
Electronic money proposal - Frequently Asked Questionshttp://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/08/616&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=fr
Electronic money: Commission proposes clear legal framework for innovative payment solutionshttp://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/08/1491&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
Further information:
European Commission website - Internal Market and Services Directorate Generalhttp://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/payments/emoney/index_en.htm
