S/C/N/800
18 March 2015
(15-1558) Page: 1/2
Council for Trade in Services  Original: English
 
  NOTIFICATION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE III:3 OF THE 
WTO AGREEMENT ON TRADE IN SERVICES 
The following notification from the delegation of  the European Union, dated 16 March 2015, is 
being circulated to the Members of the Council for Trade in Services. 
 
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The following notification is made pursuant to GATS Article III:3 and relates to measures adopted 
by the European Union in 2014. Given that th ere is no common understanding among WTO 
Members on when a measure "significantly affects trade in services" within the meaning of GATS Article III:3 and that the European Union cannot make a positive determination on this issue, it is 
therefore notifying measures that may be relevant  to trade in services without prejudice to the 
interpretation of the phrase "significantly affect trade in services" in Article III:3. 
1  MEMBER NOTIFYING 
The European Union 
2  NOTIFICATION UNDER ARTICLE(S) 
Article III, paragraph 3, of the General Agreement on Trade in Services 
3  DATE OF ENTRY INTO FORCE 
23 July 2014 4  AGENCY RESPONSIBLE FOR IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF THE MEASURE 
Member States of the European Union 
 
5  DESCRIPTION OF THE MEASURE
* 
a) Full title of the EU act: 
 
Directive 2014/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 on the comparability of fees related to payment accounts, payment account switching and access to 
payment accounts with basic features. 
 b) Brief summary of the content with a focu s on potential effect on services trade: 
 
The Directive touches on three areas: 
 
− Access to bank accounts; 
− Account switching; and 
− Transparency and comparability of account fees. 
                                               
* Including international agreements, recognition measures or other types. S/C/N/800 
 
- 2 - 
 
  Access to bank accounts 
 
The Directive establishes two key principles on bank accounts. First, it restates that all EU consumers will have the right to open an account at any bank in the EU, even if they do not reside 
in the Country.  
 Secondly, it establishes the right for all EU consumers to open an account with basic features 
("basic account" for short), which allows them to perform a set of essential operations (deposit 
and withdraw cash, make and receive payments, use a debit card) at a reasonable fee.   Consumers will be able to open basic accounts even if they are not residents of the country where 
the bank is located and irrespective of their financial situation.  
 Account switching 
 The Directive creates a procedure to help consumers who want to change (i.e. switch) their payment accounts and transfer the payments existing on their old account to the new one. 
 
For consumers who change accounts between two providers located in the same Country, the Directive establishes a detailed procedure to reduce their administrative burden. The consumer is only required to provide an authorisation for the switch and all the following steps are carried out 
by the banks. 
 For consumers who change accounts between two providers located in different EU Countries the 
Directive foresees a more limited obligation for the providers involved, which are only required to 
provide some documentation necessary for the switch, while it is up to the consumer to bring these documents from one bank to the other. 
 
Transparency and comparability of payment account fees 
 The Directive will also facilitate consumers comparing offers of accounts from different payment 
service providers and allow them to better monito r the amount of the fees they pay on their 
accounts.  
In particular, all providers will use the same terminology when referring to the main services they 
offer on payment accounts. Also, providers will be required to make available a set of standard documents containing easily comparable information on the fees charged. 
 
Finally, the Directive foresees that at least one website must be made available to consumers in each Member State, which will compare the fees  charged by different payment service providers 
on payment accounts. 
 
 6  MEMBERS SPECIFICALLY AFFECTED 
None 
7  TEXTS AVAILABLE FROM 
 Other sources (address, fax and telephone of other body) 
 
EU Official Journal, available on line at:  http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-con tent/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32014L0065   
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32014R0600  
 
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