The Payment Services Directive (PSD) was adopted by the EU Council of Ministers in March 2007, but an explosion in e-commerce through the internet and the ownership and use of smartphones has taken place since then. In response to the challenge posed by technology to traditional payments methods, the Commission published a green paper called: ‘Towards an integrated European market for card, internet and mobile payments,’ as a precursor to further rules changes.

The European Commission is poised to publish new payments rules covering ‘interchange’ fees, which are charged on card transactions. These could unfairly hit Visa and MasterCard, leaving rivals American Express and Paypal unfair market advantage, says the president of MasterCard Europe.

Young Europeans entering the labour market today have a much harder time than their parents or grandparents. In Greece and Spain where the crisis has cut the jobs the most, there are now more unemployed young people than employed. This casts a dark shadow on the whole society, hope is scarce. Desperation is becoming a norm, writes MEP Tarja Cronberg.

By  Simon Lelieveldt In the first weeks of May this year, the European Commission announced a proposal for a Directive on Bank Accounts that will foc..