Acta literal de los debates

Miércoles 4 de julio de 2018 - Estrasburgo

22. Efectos negativos de la Ley de Cumplimiento Tributario de Cuentas Extranjeras de los EE. UU sobre los ciudadanos de la UE (debate)

  Puhemies. – Esityslistalla on seuraavana keskustelu

– Cecilia Wikströmin vetoomusvaliokunnan puolesta neuvostolle laatimasta suullisesti vastattavasta kysymyksestä ulkomaisia tilejä koskevan Yhdysvaltojen verosäännösten noudattamislain (FATCA) kielteisistä vaikutuksista EU:n kansalaisiin ja erityisesti "sattumanvaraisiin yhdysvaltalaisiin" (O-000052/2018 - B8-0033/2018) (2018/2646(RSP)) ja

– Cecilia Wikströmin vetoomusvaliokunnan puolesta komissiolle laatimasta suullisesti vastattavasta kysymyksestä ulkomaisia tilejä koskevan Yhdysvaltojen verosäännösten noudattamislain (FATCA) kielteisistä vaikutuksista EU:n kansalaisiin ja erityisesti "sattumanvaraisiin yhdysvaltalaisiin" (O-000053/2018 - B8-0032/2018) (2018/2646(RSP)).

  Cecilia Wikström, author. – Madam President, in 2010, the United States, which is the only democratic country in the world to have adopted citizenship—based taxation, enacted the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which is an extraterritorial law aimed at preventing tax evasion, through offshore accounts, by US citizens and residents. As part of the global efforts to fight corruption, cross—border tax fraud and tax evasion, EU Member States have concluded bilateral intergovernmental agreements with the USA in order to implement FATCA, obliging European financial institutions to report to the US tax authorities all the holdings of their customers who are so—called ‘US persons’.

I would like to emphasise that the Committee on Petitions and the Parliament strongly support tax transparency and all the efforts being made to fight tax fraud. However, more than eight years after FATCA’s adoption, while unilateralism and protectionism unfortunately appear to be the cornerstones of US foreign policy, it is now high time to assess the extraterritorial effects of FATCA on thousands and thousands of law-abiding EU citizens and their families.

Therefore, in 2016, a collective of European citizens from nine different Member States submitted a petition to Parliament, to my committee, alerting us via the committee about the impact of FATCA, and its implementing intergovernmental agreements, on European citizens. They testified to the violation of various fundamental principles of EU law, including the right to respect for private life, the prohibition of discrimination, and data protection rules, as well as the EU Payment Accounts Directive. All this was brought to our attention and, to tell you the truth, it was shocking.

In practice, FATCA has affected a large number of citizens in Europe, such as citizens who are nationals of both the USA and an EU Member State and, in particular, the so—called ‘accidental Americans’ who, by accident of birth, inherited US citizenship but who maintain no ties at all to the USA, never having lived, worked or studied there, and do not hold US social security numbers. They are, in many cases, completely unaware that they are US citizens. FATCA requires foreign financial institutions to search for US persons by looking at a variety of indicators, including indicators of power of attorney over the account of a US person with a US address, against which the individual is required to prove that he or she is not a US person.

Because non—compliance with the requirement imposed results in heavy fines for financial institutions, many of them in the EU have responded by avoiding all commercial business with customers presenting any US connection, whether actual or not. This appears to be in breach of the Payment Accounts Directive and the right of all EU citizens to have access, without discrimination, to a payment account with basic features. In addition, financial institutions have to disclose detailed information on accounts held by presumed so—called US persons to the US Internal Revenue Service via their national governments. This – and I am eager to convey this message to the Commission this evening – could constitute a breach of EU data protection rules and EU fundamental rights and, therefore, it requires further investigation.

The lives and livelihoods of thousands of citizens in the EU are at stake here. Those falling within the definition of US persons have their savings accounts frozen, they have no access to banking services, including life insurance, pensions and mortgages due to the reluctance of financial institutions to follow the FATCA reporting. Their family members are also affected. These issues need to be addressed at EU level, all together.

Commissioner, it is now high time that the Commission took appropriate action to protect the rights of the European citizens affected, in particular the so-called ‘accidental Americans’. I wonder how the Commission and the Council intend to include the situation of accidental Americans in your transposition assessment of the Payment Accounts Directive. More generally, a full impact assessment of FATCA on EU citizens is badly needed now to determine whether a serious discrepancy exists between EU citizens and residents in different Member States with regard to data protection.

Last, but not least, a common EU approach, and in particular an EU-US agreement on FATCA, could in fact prove to be more effective in ensuring reciprocity and upholding the fundamental principles of EU law. I very much look forward to hearing from both the Commission and the Council on the diplomatic and legislative steps that you are considering in order to protect the rights and interests of the EU citizens concerned against the effects of FATCA.

  Karoline Edtstadler, President-in-Office of the Council. – Madam President, as the honourable Member is aware, the Payment Accounts Directive is an important piece of legislation that improves access by citizens to basic banking services.

A number of measures to ensure access to a basic payment account were suggested by the Commission in its recommendation of July 2011, and these measures were supported by Parliament in its resolution of 4 July 2012. In July 2014, Parliament and the Council enacted a Payment Accounts Directive, which has been in application since September 2016 and all Member States have notified transposition of the measures contained in the Directive.

However, it is for the Commission to assess the implementation of EU legislation by the Member States and in particular the correct transposition of the Payment Accounts Directive. We trust that the Commission will carefully assess whether it has been correctly implemented by all Member States and will take any appropriate measures in the case of any breach.

When it comes to the US legislation on FATCA and its possible extraterritorial effects, let me state the following: it is a principle of international law that the sovereignty of each state implies that it can freely define its taxpayers. Therefore, it is not for the Council to interpret the legal provisions concerning taxpayers in specific non-EU countries.

The double taxation situations which can arise from that principle are solved through bilateral agreements based on international arrangements such as the OECD ones. It is not the role of the Council either to interpret intergovernmental agreements concluded by Member States and the US, or to evaluate the impact that they may have on citizens. In light of these considerations the possibility for the negotiation of an EU-US agreement on FATCA has not been discussed by the Council.

Finally, on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): as the honourable Member is aware, this entered into application on 25 May. The GDPR provides that processing of personal data, such as the disclosure of personal data on bank accounts, is only lawful if its processing has a legal basis such as an international agreement between an EU Member State and the US. Moreover, the GDPR applies to the processing of personal data regardless of whether the processing of the data takes place within the European Union or not.

Therefore, the same data protection rules apply to all data subjects who are in the European Union, including EU citizens and residents irrespective of which Member State they are staying in. Furthermore, the GDPR sets out harmonised rules for transfers and disclosures of personal data from the EU to non-EU countries.

  Věra Jourová, Member of the Commission. – Madam President, first of all, I would like to recall that the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is implemented through intergovernmental agreements negotiated bilaterally between the US and each Member State. Member States chose not to give the Commission a mandate to negotiate an EU agreement, preferring bilateral agreements. I would also like to underline that the information exchange requirements under the Act, as such, are similar to those in our EU directive on mandatory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation and to the OECD global Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information, which is currently being implemented by over 100 jurisdictions.

At the same time, the Commission acknowledges that FATCA and the related intergovernmental agreements may have the unintended effect of hindering access to financial services in the EU for persons regarded by the US authorities as American citizens or tax residents. This includes ‘accidental Americans’ – people who were born in the United States or to United States parents and who may not have any other connection to the United States.

As Parliament rightly states in the oral question, US tax rules are based on citizenship. As a result, anyone holding US citizenship, anyone residing mostly in the United States or entitled to permanent residence in the United States will be subject to US tax obligations. This has been acknowledged at international level and in the tax treaties signed by the US with all Member States. The Commission understands that one of the practical problems that EU financial institutions are confronted with is that they need a US tax identification or social security number to report the financial information required under FATCA to the United States tax authorities. However, customers who are subject to FATCA may not have such a number, and obtaining it seems to be cumbersome and potentially costly. Nevertheless, it should be borne in mind that similar reporting obligations are required under the Directive on Administrative Cooperation and at international level through the OECD global Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Information.

Concerning the possible discrimination towards consumers and their right to payment accounts, all consumers who are legally resident in the EU, including real and accidental Americans, are entitled to open a basic payment account, irrespective of their nationality or Member State of residence, under the Payment Accounts Directive. Should Member States not enforce this directive, the Commission will decide on appropriate measures, including the launching of an infringement procedure.

Member States appear to have followed similar approaches to the issue. They have concluded bilateral agreements with the United States based on the same model. National legislation implementing the agreements has to be in line with the requirements of EU data protection law and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. When national data protection authorities analysed the issue in February 2018, they found that there had been no occasions where the processing and transfer of data to the United States under FATCA had to be prohibited.

  Peter Jahr, im Namen der PPE-Fraktion. – Frau Präsidentin! Aus Sicht des Petitionsausschusses, wenn ich so die Äußerungen der Kommission und des Rates zusammenfasse, fällt mir so ein philosophisches Sprichwort ein, wo man sagen könnte: Im Strom der Wahrheit schwimmt die Lüge mit. Natürlich ist es richtig, dass man auch als Land die Möglichkeit haben muss, seine Steuerzahler überall in der Welt zu erfassen, egal, wo sie sind. Das stimmt ja alles. Aber wir als Petitionsausschuss beschäftigen uns ja mit einer besonderen Gruppe von Menschen, von Petenten, die quasi unwissend oder unbeabsichtigt zur amerikanischen Staatsbürgerschaft gekommen sind.

Ein Beispiel, das man Ihnen präsentieren kann: Die Geburt eines Kindes lässt sich nicht immer genau terminlich bestimmen. Da wird das Kind halt in den Vereinigten Staaten geboren, dann kehren die Eltern mit dem Kind nach Europa zurück, und das Kind besitzt die amerikanische Staatsbürgerschaft. Das wissen die gar nicht. Das hat auch keine Bedeutung, bis Sie dann volljährig werden. Nun könnte man sagen mit etwas Galgenhumor: Übrigens haben die auch einen Vorteil, die können dann plötzlich amerikanischer Präsident werden, was den anderen versagt ist.

Aber das hat natürlich im täglichen Leben eine ganze Menge Folgen: die schlechte Nachricht, wenn Sie dann versuchen, ein Bankkonto zu eröffnen. Sie haben zwar gesagt, das ist allgemein möglich, aber das machen ja die Banken etwas subkutan. Die sagen ja nicht „Du kriegst kein Bankkonto“, wenn sie irgendwie spüren, da ist ein Risiko, und sie müssen dann Daten weitergeben, die sie wahrscheinlich gar nicht gerne weitergeben würden. Dann verweisen sie den Kunden lieber woanders hin.

Noch schlimmer wird es, wenn Sie einen Kredit beantragen. Im Kreditverfahren muss die Bonität des Betroffenen bestimmt werden. Der hat ein Risiko, denn er weiß gar nicht, ob er überhaupt noch Steuern in Amerika zahlen muss oder nicht. Man wird in der Regel den sicheren Weg gehen, und die bekommen dann im Prinzip keine Kredite.

Was uns natürlich normalerweise ein bisschen geärgert hat als Petitionsausschuss: Normalerweise müsste man sagen, das ist auch eine Frage der europäischen Staatsbürgerschaft, und Europa sollte hier zusammenstehen. Also wir bevorzugen europäische Lösungen. Ich bitte ganz einfach – auch wenn der Hinweis vom Koalitionsausschuss kommt, ich weiß, wir sind rechtlich überhaupt nicht kompetent dafür –, die Dinge hier zu beachten, die Anregungen aufzunehmen und noch mal zu kämpfen, um im Interesse der Betroffenen eine Lösung zu finden.

  Virginie Rozière, au nom du groupe S&D. – Madame la Présidente, nous débattons ce soir de cette question orale parce que la commission des pétitions de ce Parlement a été saisie par plusieurs centaines de citoyens européens qu’on appelle «Américains accidentels».

Un «Américain accidentel», c’est en fait, contrairement à ce que le nom indique, un citoyen européen que les États-Unis considèrent comme lié d’une manière ou d’une autre à la nationalité américaine, que ce soit par l’ascendance, par la naissance ou même, dans certains cas, par erreur.

Les conséquences sont dramatiques pour ces personnes puisque ce qui leur est demandé, c’est de se mettre en conformité avec la fiscalité américaine en payant cinq années d’arriérés d’impôts aux États-Unis. Concrètement, qu’est-ce que cela donne? On considère qu’avec les arriérés plus les frais d’avocats, vous devez compter au minimum 30 000 euros mais, dans certains cas, cela peut monter à 60 000, 80 000, voire plus de 100 000 euros à acquitter pour se mettre en conformité. Si vous ne le faites pas, c’est l’accès aux services bancaires les plus élémentaires qui vous sont refusés.

Alors, on pourrait penser qu’on est là en face de cas marginaux, mais ça n’est pas du tout le cas puisqu’une étude sur, à peine, un quart de l’Union européenne fait état de plus de 100 000 personnes concernées. Par conséquent, on peut imaginer qu’à l’échelle de l’Union, c’est entre 300 et 500 000 citoyens qui peuvent être concernés.

Pourquoi en sommes-nous là? Parce que les États membres, justement, en application de la loi FATCA, ont accepté de signer des accords bilatéraux qui permettent l’application unilatérale et extraterritoriale du droit américain sur le sol européen.

Il est plus que temps que l’Union européenne prenne enfin la défense de ses citoyens pour faire cesser ce déni de droit et négocie un accord européen qui soit réciproque et conforme à nos droits fondamentaux (protection des données, accès aux services bancaires) et que l’Union européenne s’oppose aussi, enfin, à l’application extraterritoriale du droit américain.

  Νότης Μαριάς, εξ ονόματος της ομάδας ECR. – Κυρία Πρόεδρε, η Επιτροπή Αναφορών, η επιτροπή μας, δέχεται εκατοντάδες αιτήματα και θεωρώ πολύ σημαντικό ότι, και σε αυτή τη συνεδρίαση και σε προηγούμενη συνεδρίαση, έχουμε φέρει θέματα που απασχολούν τους πολίτες. Κλασική περίπτωση είναι οι δυσμενείς επιπτώσεις του αμερικανικού νόμου περί φορολογικής συμμόρφωσης αλλοδαπών λογαριασμών, η FATCA, που επί της ουσίας σημαίνει μια εξωεδαφική αρμοδιότητα των Ηνωμένων Πολιτειών να επιβάλλουν φόρους σε όσους αυτοί θεωρούν δικούς τους πολίτε. Και κατά την έννοια αυτή, υπάρχει μια αρμοδιότητα να συζητήσουμε το ζήτημα αυτό, μια και θεωρούμε ότι παραβιάζεται μια συγκεκριμένη οδηγία της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης και, ενδεχόμενα, και τα θεμελιώδη δικαιώματα των πολιτών της Ένωσης.

Από την άλλη όμως, να πούμε το εξής: ότι η επιβολή φορολογίας ανήκει στην αρμοδιότητα των κρατών μελών. Κατά την έννοια αυτή, έχει συναφθεί διμερής συμφωνία κάθε κράτους με τις Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες για την περίπτωση της FATCA. Νομίζω ότι πρέπει να υπάρξει μια κατεύθυνση προς τα κράτη μέλη, να αναλάβουν δραστηριότητα να επιλύσουν τα θέματα αυτά. Σημαντική στο πεδίο αυτό είναι η δράση της γαλλικής κυβέρνησης, η οποία ήρθε σε επαφή με τις Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες για να αντιμετωπίσει αυτό το πρόβλημα.

  Sophia in 't Veld, on behalf of the ALDE Group. – Madam President, I have to say that I am quite dismayed to hear the Presidency say that it is not your task to evaluate the impact on citizens. If the situation of citizens is not your concern, then what are you doing here?

It is our prime concern, and you know what the funny thing is, there are only two countries in the world that have citizen-based taxation. One is the US, the other is Eritrea, and when Eritrea came here to Europe and tried to impose taxes on Eritrean citizens here, everybody reacted. Apparently, then, it was our concern. So what is different now?

So you think that international relations are more important than the interests of your own citizens. That’s funny, and the other thing that is also funny is that when I started to dig into this, six years ago, I got the same answer: ‘Oh, you know, taxation – there is nothing we can do. Americans decide on their own system; we hardly have any talks with the Americans about this’. But then I made a request for access to documents, and I got 14 000 documents: correspondence between the European Commission and the US authorities on FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act). So why are you saying that it doesn’t concern you?

What you are saying is that you consider your relationship with the American authorities more important than the rights of citizens. And we are not just talking about basic bank accounts: we are talking about getting a mortgage loan to buy a house, which I think is a fundamental right, or a business loan for an SME, which we were just talking about.

So if you can tell Eritrea off, surely you can tell the United States off too. We are talking about at least 110 000 citizens in just seven countries of the European Union, so we are probably talking hundreds of thousands.

You have just started your Presidency. Maybe it would be a good start, even before the summer break, to show a little more concern for the interests of European citizens. So I expect the European Council to start talks with the United States about the abolition of citizen-based taxation or, at the very least, an exemption for EU citizens, because it is your duty.

  Eleonora Evi, a nome del gruppo EFDD. – Signora Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, come evidenziato dalle moltissime petizione ricevute, un numero crescente di cittadini europei, tra i quali i cosiddetti americani occidentali, si trovano a vivere rilevanti problematiche personali direttamente correlate agli effetti extraterritoriali della normativa statunitense in materia fiscale, denominata appunto FATCA, applicata negli Stati membri dell'Unione europea in ragione di accordi bilaterali intergovernativi conclusi con gli Stati Uniti.

Il diniego di accesso anche ai servizi bancari essenziali per questi cittadini, in un quadro viziato da evidenti criticità, richiede la tempestiva eliminazione di ogni vessazione, discriminazione e incongruenza ai fini della tutela dei diritti fondamentali. È necessaria una valutazione completa nei vari Stati membri dell'impatto sui cittadini dell'Unione europea provocato da questa normativa e dalla pratica extraterritoriale degli Stati Uniti riguardante il proprio metodo di tassazione, basato sulla cittadinanza.

Rammento che, nella risoluzione del 6 luglio del 2016, questo Parlamento aveva già preso atto di una significativa mancanza di reciprocità tra gli Stati Uniti e l'Unione europea nel quadro degli accordi FATCA. Questo aspetto, a mio avviso, va affrontato adeguatamente e risolto: tra gli Stati Uniti e l'Unione europea deve vigere la piena reciprocità sulla portata delle informazioni da scambiare, confermando ovviamente la lotta all'evasione fiscale, alla corruzione e al riciclaggio di denaro, attraverso l'adozione dei più alti standard internazionali in materia di trasparenza fiscale.

Mi associo all'appello fatto dai colleghi: questo è un problema che deve essere affrontato non soltanto a livello di Commissione europea ma invito il Consiglio a prendere sul serio questo problema, che deve essere risolto urgentemente, e a dimostrare un maggiore impegno rispetto ad esso.

  Alex Mayer (S&D). – Madam President, panicked, isolated and scared: that’s how 73—year-old Cambridge pensioner Merryn Grimley says she felt when she got a threatening letter telling her she needed to pay US tax. Born to British parents, and having gone to school in Britain, worked all her life in Britain and retired in Britain, she’s now being chased down like a criminal by the USA. She didn’t even know that she was accidentally an American citizen because she was born there. I believe that we need to act.

FATCA breaches the right to data privacy of the European Convention on Human Rights, and the big financial barriers to renouncing citizenship breach Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

It’s costing Merryn Grimley over USD 2 300 to get rid of the US citizenship she never wanted, nor knew that she had. I urge the Commission to act, and I will also be asking Theresa May to raise this subject with Donald Trump on his forthcoming visit to Britain.

  Helga Stevens (ECR). – Voorzitter, de meeste landen heffen enkel belastingen binnen hun territorium, maar de Verenigde Staten doen dat ook op basis van nationaliteit. Amerikanen die in het buitenland wonen, moeten met andere woorden jaarlijks een Amerikaanse belastingaangifte indienen. Sommige EU-burgers kregen, zonder dat ze daarom vroegen, de Amerikaanse nationaliteit, omdat ze toevallig in Amerika geboren werden. De Facta-wetgeving over automatische uitwisseling van bankgegevens met de VS heeft ertoe geleid dat zij de toegang tot financiële basisdiensten in de EU kunnen verliezen, wat niet de bedoeling kan zijn. Nu en dan vind ik in mijn mailbox een vraag om hulp van zulke “toevallige Amerikanen”. Bij navraag op het kabinet-Financiën bleek dat er een brief is gestuurd, maar dat die helaas zonder antwoord is gebleven. Daarom mijn vraag aan de Raad: kan u gezamenlijk nieuwe diplomatieke of wetgevende maatregelen treffen om de belangen van de EU-burgers te vrijwaren?

  Pervenche Berès (S&D). – Madame la Présidente, je remercie le Conseil et la Commission pour leur contribution, mais en vous entendant j’ai parfois l’impression que vous n’avez pas rencontré ces «Américains accidentels» ou ces Américains malgré eux.

Ce sont des citoyens européens qui se trouvent dans une situation très particulière parce qu’ils sont confrontés à un pays, les États-Unis, qui a mis en place un système d’acquisition de la nationalité qui n’existe nulle part ailleurs, donc cela ne sert à rien de parler de réciprocité. Il existe un problème particulier lié aux conditions d’acquisition de la nationalité américaine, et vous devez en tenir compte. Il y a aussi un problème lié à la façon dont les États-Unis ont mis en œuvre leur extraterritorialité, qui, là aussi, a un impact. Mais, Madame la Commissaire, je vous invite vraiment à rencontrer ces «Américains accidentels». Ce sont des gens qui se retrouvent dans une situation comme citoyens européens, principalement, totalement en discrimination.

La logique de l’application de la loi FATCA peut les conduire à devenir des non-bancarisés, car les banques n’aiment pas avoir à s’occuper de la mise en œuvre de la loi FACTA. Alors, vous nous dites que ce n’est pas de notre compétence. Bien sûr, les États ont voulu garder la compétence dès lors qu’il s’agit de négocier une convention fiscale ou un accord, mais l’enjeu n’est pas celui-là. L’enjeu, à la fin, c’est comment est-ce que nos banques se sont pliées et ont demandé à leurs États de se plier à la mise en œuvre de la loi FACTA pour continuer à bénéficier de l’accès au marché américain et ne pas voir leurs revenus taxés à hauteur de 30 %. Or, du coup, cela devient réellement un sujet de négociation entre marchés financiers.

C’est la raison pour laquelle je vous demande, avec le vice-président Dombrovskis, à chaque déplacement aux États-Unis, d’aborder cette question pour que le principe de proportionnalité devienne une réalité. ...

(La Présidente retire la parole à l’oratrice)

Pyynnöstä myönnettävät puheenvuorot

  Seán Kelly (PPE). – Madam President, the three leading speakers here this evening on behalf of the institutions were three ladies, and they gave us a very good overview of this problem with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Also complements to the Committee on Petitions (PETI), who do such wonderful work, for highlighting this issue.

My first reaction was that, if the shoe was on the other foot and it was European countries demanding tax from ‘accidental’ Europeans in the United States, President Trump would be up all night tweeting about it and threatening fire and brimstone upon us. We need to look at it from that point of view and take action.

(Applause)

Secondly, I think what my colleague, Ms Wikström, said: an impact assessment needs to be done to establish the extent of this, and to find out what actually is happening in the greatest detail.

Also, you mentioned the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which has come in in May. Is this in breach of it? If it is, it has to stop, because I think we have to ensure that our citizens are protected from FATCA being applied by the fat cats of the American Revenue Commissioners.

(Pyynnöstä myönnettävät puheenvuorot päättyvät)

  Věra Jourová, Member of the Commission. – Madam President, I would like to thank you again for raising this issue and making us aware of the difficulties faced by ‘accidental Americans’. Let me reiterate that the Commission was not part of the negotiations with the United States on the rules implementing FATCA in the Member States, which remain a Member State competence, but I promise I will speak to my fellow Commissioner Moscovici about a possible concerted way forward with the Member States to approach US tax authorities.

  Karoline Edtstadler, President-in-Office of the Council. – Madam President, I have followed this discussion with interest. I have heard also the input from the Commission and from the MEPs who stayed late this evening to fight for the people affected, and I fully appreciate this.

I understand some Member States have been in contact bilaterally with the US authorities over concerns linked to the implementation of FATCA. Against the background regarding the question which was raised – and I would rather say the ‘accusation’ raised by MEP in ‘t Veld several times – which is why the EU is more actively and pursuing the issue, I would like to state that the EU has not yet been called on to take collective action, since Member States have been dealing with this issue individually in close cooperation with the US. And to MEP in ‘t Veld (I see that you have changed your place – I thought you were leaving already, so I am happy that you are still here), I would prefer to be quoted correctly. I said that it is not the role of the Council to evaluate the impact of an intergovernmental agreement concluded by Member States and the US. That is not the role of the Council. And I would state that again, because what we are talking about here are bilateral agreements. Nevertheless, the Payment Account Directive contains a detailed review clause. The Commission has been requested both by the Council and by the European Parliament to submit a report three years after implementation of the Directive, accompanied by any appropriate proposals. The report will deal, in particular, with infringements to the application of the directive.

The report should also highlight the number of credit institutions offering payment accounts with basic features, the associate fees, the characteristics of the consumers who have opened payment accounts with basic features, as well as best practices for reducing consumers’ exclusion from access to payment services. However, the Presidency will of course remain available for exchanges on the subject as needed, and is ready to be in touch with the Commission.

I hope that I was able to clarify the situation, and I thank you again for your attention.

  Puhemies. – Olen vastaanottanut yhden työjärjestyksen 128 artiklan 5 kohdan mukaisesti käsiteltäväksi jätetyn päätöslauselmaehdotuksen.

Keskustelu on päättynyt.

Äänestys toimitetaan torstaina 5. heinäkuuta 2018.