The European Commission announced on Tuesday that it has decided to ask France formally to amend legislation that prohibits banks from offering interest on current accounts to their customers.
This means that banks from another Member State which have a branch or subsidiary in France cannot offer banking services under the same conditions as in their home Member State.
The Commission considers that the legislation is in breach of the EC Treaty rules on the freedom of establishment, and does not correctly implement the Banking Directive's provisions on single licences.
It has thus issued a reasoned opinion, the second stage of the infringement procedure laid down in Article 226 of the EC Treaty. In the absence of a satisfactory reply from France within two months of receiving the reasoned opinion, the Commission may decide to refer the matter to the European Court of Justice.
This decision follows on the 2004 ruling by the European Court of Justice, which held that legislation such as that in force in France impeded access by Community banks to the French market. The deposit of funds by the public represents one of the basic activities in the banking sector and this prohibition deprives Community banks of an instrument that can help them acquire new customers without the need for a well-established commercial network.
According to the Court of Justice, the legislation in France, which had been justified on the ground that it made it possible to compensate for the practice of issuing cheques free of charge, does not in reality confer any specific benefit on customers, who would benefit more from commercial offerings on more flexible and varied conditions, leaving banks free, if they so wished, to continue issuing cheques free of charge.
The French authorities had assured the Commission in December 2004 that the legislation would be amended in line with the view expressed by the Court of Justice, but this has not yet taken place.
.
Network Tweets
Network BlogsContent
provided by
|
Archive | Resources | Partners | Site Map | Links | Newsletter Archive | Contact | RSS Feeds | About | Syndication | Advertising & Marketing | Recruitment | Terms & Conditions | Privacy & Cookies
Copyright © 2012 - All Rights Reserved - Tax-News.com
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Tax-News.com has taken reasonable care in sourcing and presenting the information contained on this site, but accepts no responsibility for any financial or other loss or damage that may result from its use. In particular, users of the site are advised to take appropriate professional advice before committing themselves to involvement in offshore jurisdictions, offshore trusts or offshore investments.
Write a comment