Regulation (EU) 2021/1230 on cross-border payments, commonly referred to as CBPR2, is a cornerstone initiative within the EU’s effort to improve the affordability, transparency and consistency of payment services across Member States. The primary objective of CBPR2 is to ensure that all EU citizens and businesses benefit from a harmonised, transparent and cost-effective cross-border payment environment – irrespective of whether they are located in euro or non-euro area Member States. Article 14 of the Regulation requires the European Commission to evaluate the implementation and effects of the CBPR2. This includes assessing how providers apply the rules in practice, the Regulation’s impact on different types of charges and transaction volumes, and carrying out a cost-benefit analysis. Although the review was initially due in 2022, it was postponed due to the pandemic and because the Regulation only fully entered into force in 2021, making an earlier evaluation premature. The global objective of the study is to provide qualitative and quantitative evidence on the application and impact of the CBPR2, with a view to informing the Commission’s review of this Regulation.
The study has two specific objectives.
- The first is to provide evidence and findings for the preparation of the review report for the CBPR2 by addressing the specific topics listed in the review clause (Article 14 CBPR2).
- Secondly, this study will provide evidence and findings for the Commission’s impact assessment (in particular for the mandatory retrospective evaluation report of the CBPR2 in its entirety) with regard to possible legislative changes by assessing the effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence and EU added value of the CBPR2 in line with the Better Regulation Guidelines and Tools. However, this assignment focuses on the evaluation itself, which precedes or feeds into the EC impact assessment.
This project is led by Varian.
