The German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeiting has published this brief article on the draft Communication of EU-Commissioner Bolkestein with respect to the future legal framework for payments. The newspaper notices that the 82-page document aims at protecting the consumer.
The consumer protection goes to the extend that payment institutions may even become liable in those cases where the seller of goods and services does not deliver properly or delivers faulty goods/services (something currently the case the UK, Sweden and Finland). Also, the paper praises the Dutch situation in which a central clearing house is helping consumers with the changeover to another bank (a service not yet operational by the way).
The newspaper describes that the wording of the Commission Consultation document is still quite open, allowing for comments by banks and users after the official publication next week. But the article in the newspaper suggest that the EU-employees already have a more detailed vision on the actual texts of a draft directive.
