EU-Commission resistant to take advice – interchange regulation to come despite great disadvantages for small merchants President of European Association of Self-Employed – Germany: “Yes to competition – but it must be fair”

The European Association of Self-Employed – Germany (ESD) is very concerned about the EU-Commission’s proposal for interchange regulation which was presented on 24 July in Brussels. The Commission ignores in its draft serious objections regarding fair competition between small merchants and big retail chains which were presented by the ESD during the last months.

The Commission’s proposal will lead to a situation where companies with sufficient manpower to decide upon banking partners across Europe will have clear advantages for the following two years compared to those who do not. Interchange fees for cross border acquiring will be capped to a maximum of 0.3 per cent. Small merchants who are bound to their local banks and therefore secure jobs locally, have to pay the higher fees for national acquiring.

The Commission’s proposal discriminates against small merchants also in other ways: Big retail chains’ contracts with their banks are structured in a way which will ensure that a reduction of interchange fees will directly benefit them. However, small merchants are in an clearly inferior bargaining position and will surely experience disadvantages. Potential cost savings will likely not be passed on to them due to different kind of contracts. It is to be expected that banks will increase their prices, e.g. for leasing card terminals, in order to compensate for the losses caused by interchange regulation. Hence, small merchants would be burdened while the difference in margins compared to big retailers is likely to grow. To go without accepting cards, however, will not be an option for most of the merchants.

Kuni Ludwig Both, President of the ESD, demands the following: „The European Commission aims at more competition regarding payment services. However, it neglects small and medium enterprises. The current proposal will lead to a situation where big retail chains will have a strong competitive edge over small merchants. They are simply not able to search for the best banking partner across Europe due to a lack of resources. Furthermore, their position to negotiate with banks is inferior to big retailers. The Commission has to stop this regulatory nonsense and make substantial changes to the draft. We say yes to competition – but it must be fair.”

Small merchants are constantly under pressure and its margins of profit are not comparable to those of big retailers. The result is clearly visible in many German cities: Only retail chains and One-Euro-Shops wherever you look and small merchants often only in fringe areas. As Both comments: “The EU’s plans will accelerate the standardization of city centers. Even today, you often see the same logos and labels in each and every city center. This can’t be in the interest of the Commission.”

The Association for the Promotion of Competitive Economy acts as party-independent interest representation of the self-employed, freelancers, SMEs, business associations and guilds. The Association in particular stands up for SMEs, pooling their interests in an impactful community and representing them towards district, State and federal politics as well as towards the public and the media.

Europaverband der Selbständigen e.V.
Wilhelmstraße 77
D-10117 Berlin

E-Mail: info@esd-ev.de
Telefon: +49 [0] 30 204 598 54
Fax: +49 [0] 30 204 55 320
http://www.esd-ev.de

This release was published on openPR.