COMMON POSITION (EC) No 9/2000

adopted by the Council on 29 November 1999

with a view to adopting Directive 2000/.../EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of ... amending Council Directive 77/780/EEC on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the taking-up and pursuit of the business of credit institutions

(2000/C 26/02)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the first and third sentences of Article 47(2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission(1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee(2),

Having regard to the opinion of the European Central Bank(3),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty(4),

Whereas:

(1) in accordance with the objectives of the Treaty, it is desirable to promote harmonious development of the activities of credit institutions throughout the Community, in particular as regards the issuance of electronic money;

(2) certain institutions limit their activity primarily to the issuance of electronic money; to avoid any distortion of competition between electronic money issuers, even as regards application of monetary policy measures, it is advisable that these institutions, subject to suitable specific provisions taking into account their special characteristics, be brought within the scope of Council Directive 77/780/EEC(5);

(3) it is advisable, consequently, to extend to these institutions the definition of credit institutions provided for in Article 1 of Directive 77/780/EEC;

(4) Directive 1999/.../EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of ... on the taking-up, pursuit and prudential supervision of the business of electronic money institutions(6) defines electronic money institutions;

(5) it is necessary for electronic money to be redeemable to ensure bearer confidence,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

Directive 77/780/EEC is hereby amended as follows:

1) Article 1, first indent, shall be replaced by the following text: "- credit institution means:

(a) an undertaking whose business is to receive deposits or other repayable funds from the public and to grant credits for its own account; or

(b) an electronic money institution within the meaning of Directive 1999/.../EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of ... on the taking-up, pursuit and prudential supervision of the business of electronic money institutions(7).".

2. The following Article shall be added to Title IV:

"Article 13a

Article 3 of Directive 1999/.../EC shall apply to credit institutions."

Article 2

1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive not later than ...(8). They shall immediately inform the Commission thereof.

When Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such reference on the occasion of their official publication. The methods of making such a reference shall be laid down by the Member States.

2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main provisions of national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive.

Article 3

This Directive shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Article 4

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, ...

For the European Parliament

...

The President

For the Council

...

The President

(1) OJ C 317, 15.10.1998, p. 12.

(2) OJ C 101, 12.4.1999, p. 64.

(3) OJ C 189, 6.7.1999, p. 7.

(4) Opinion of the European Parliament of 15 April 1999 (OJ C 219, 30.7.1999, p. 421), common position of the Council of 29 November 1999 and Decision of the European Parliament of ... (not yet published in the Official Journal).

(5) OJ L 322, 17.12.1977, p. 30. Directive as last amended by Directive 98/33/EC (OJ L 204, 21.7.1998, p. 29).

(6) OJ L ...

(7) OJ ...

(8) 18 months after the date of entry into force of this Directive.

STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL'S REASONS

I. INTRODUCTION

On 22 September 1998, the Commission forwarded to the Council a proposal for a Directive amending Council Directive 77/780/EEC on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the taking-up and pursuit of the business of credit institutions, based on Article 47(2) of the EC Treaty, in particular the first and third sentences thereof.

The European Parliament gave its opinion on the first reading of the proposal on 15 April 1999. The Economic and Social Committee gave its opinion on 27 January 1999 and the European Central Bank gave its opinion on 18 January 1999.

On 29 November 1999, the Council adopted its common position pursuant to Article 251 of the Treaty.

II. ANALYSIS OF THE COMMON POSITION

The common position is complementary to the common position on the Directive on the taking-up, the pursuit and the prudential supervision of the business of electronic money institutions.

It defines electronic money institutions as credit institutions, thus submitting them to the provisions of the First and Second Banking Directives (Directives 77/780/EEC and 89/646/EEC) and thereby granting them the European passport. At the same time it creates a level playing field between different types of credit institutions.

The common position fully incorporates Amendment 25 proposed by the European Parliament where the Article concerning the redeemability of electronic money is made applicable to all credit institutions. However, it was felt that the best technical means of doing this was by inserting a new Article 13a into the First Banking Directive, Directive 77/780/EEC.

The article on implementation has been aligned with the common position on the Directive on the taking-up, pursuit and prudential supervision of the business of electronic money institutions.

The recitals incorporate Amendment 24 proposed by the European Parliament and are for the rest unchanged compared to the Commission proposal.

III. CONCLUSION

The common position follows the Commission proposal and includes both amendments proposed by the European Parliament.