CONSUMER CREDIT DIRECTIVE – New Amendments by IMCO to the Draft recommendation for second reading ahead of next meeting on Tuesday 27th November. IMCO (Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection) has been busy of late, meeting today and meeting again next week on Tuesday 27th to discuss the amendments tabled by MEPs at the IMCO meeting on the 14th of November. These amendments are available in the attached pdf: IMCO Amendments on the Common position adopted by the Council on 20 September 2007 with a view to the adoption of a Directive on credit agreements for consumers and repealing Council Directive 87/102/EEC (Document code: pe398.282v01-00) We haven’t had time to comment on these amendments yet, please send us your opinion. ----------------------------------- PAST AND FUTURE IMCO MEETINGS: MEETING - 5 NOVEMBER 2007, FROM 15.00 TO 19.30 Consideration of draft recommendation for second reading Deadline for tabling amendments: 13th November 2007 Speakers: Arlene McCarthy, Joost Lagendijk, Kurt Lechner, Bill Newton Dunn (on behalf of Diana Wallis), Heide Rühle, Evelyne Gebhardt, Jacques Toubon, Malcolm Harbour, Dirk Staudenmayer, Head of Unit, DG SANCO, European Commission. MEETING - 12 NOVEMBER 2007 (in Strasbourg only to deal with Consumer Credit Legislation). MEETING - THURSDAY 22 NOVEMBER 2007 11. Harmonisation of the Member States' legislation on credit for consumers (repeal of Directive 87/102/EEC) IMCO/6/53636 ***II 2002/0222(COD) 09948/2/2007 – C6-0315/2007 T5-0297/2004 Rapporteur: Kurt Lechner (EPP-ED) PR – PE396.526v02-00 Responsible: IMCO Consideration of amendments Deadline for tabling amendments: 13 November 2007, 18.00 MEETING - TUESDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2007, 09.00 – 10.00 10. Harmonisation of the Member States' legislation on credit for consumers (repeal of Directive 87/102/EEC) IMCO/6/53636 ***II 2002/0222(COD) 09948/2/2007 – C6-0315/2007 T5-0297/2004 Rapporteur: Kurt Lechner (EPP-ED) PR – PE396.526v02-00 AM – PE398.282v01-00 Responsible: IMCO Consideration of amendments Deadline for tabling amendments: 13 November 2007, 18.00 Also to be discussed by IMCO on 27 November 2007, 11.30 – 12.30: 16. The EU Consumer Policy strategy 2007-2013 IMCO/6/53458 2007/2189(INI) COM(2007)0099 Rapporteur: Lasse Lehtinen (PSE) Responsible: IMCO Opinions: ECON – Cristobal Montoro Romero (EPPED) JURI FEMM – Anna Hedh (PSE) Exchange of views --------------- Also attached are some background materials recently released on the previous Common Position from 20 September 2007 1) COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT in accordance with the second paragraph of Article 251(2) of the EC Treaty on the common position adopted by the Council with a view to the adoption of a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on credit agreements for consumers 2) COUNCIL REASONS Statement of the Council's Reason - Modified proposal (document code: CONS(2007)09948(add1)) 3) COMMUNICATION COMPLETION OF WRITTEN PROCEDURE I am pleased to inform you that the written procedure for the adoption of an amended proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on credit agreements for consumers and repealing Council Directive 87/102/EEC (2002/0222 (COD)) was completed on 20 September 2007. The Greek and Netherlands delegations voted against the proposal and the Belgian and Luxembourg delegations abstained. The other delegations gave their agreement. The Belgian, Greek and United Kingdom delegations made statements (see Annex). STATEMENT BY BELGIUM Belgium has always supported harmonisation that ensures a high level of consumer protection and the creation of a genuine internal market for credit. The proposal submitted to the Council does not meet either of these two objectives, as the level of harmonisation is low. Belgium thus has doubts about the added value of this text. Belgium also considers that a balanced policy for consumer credit should include the principle of responsible lending, which is the cornerstone of quality credit. Belgium will continue in the future to support any initiative aimed at promoting quality credit. For these reasons, Belgium has decided to abstain. STATEMENT BY GREECE Greece acknowledges the effective work that has been done so far in order to reach an agreement on a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on credit agreements for consumers; there is no doubt that a concrete and well defined legislative text will guarantee a high level of protection for the European consumer. In this respect, Greece strongly supports the right of the consumer to fully or partially discharge, at any time, his contractual obligations under a credit agreement. However and despite its expressed willingness to come to a balanced compromise, Greece opposes the insertion in the text of the Directive (Article 15) of the provision of compensation in the case of early repayment. In its view, this provision is not justified by the aim of the Directive. STATEMENT BY THE UNITED KINGDOM The United Kingdom notes with great regret that the proposal for a Directive on consumer credit was not accompanied by an impact assessment in line with commitments made by all institutions to the better regulation agenda. In the future, the United Kingdom strongly urges the Commission to consider the full range of tools to open up access to European markets, ensuring that non-legislative policy solutions are thoroughly assessed before bringing forward legislative proposals and that all specific measures are subjected to a full assessment of their costs and benefits. Furthermore, the United Kingdom does not consider that the provisions agreed in the Consumer Credit Directive constitute a precedent for future work on financial services. ID: 40551 Author(s): SCR Publication date: 22/11/07     CCD - IMCO ammendments (Nov14, en) (346515 Bytes) ECRC Position on the draft CCD proposed by IMCO, 8 Nov07 (en) (130456 Bytes) CCD - Statement of the Council's Reason for a Modified proposal (20Sept, en (153684 Bytes) CCD - Lead up to Common Position (21Sept07, en) (139549 Bytes) URL(s): Link to previous ECRC comment and information campaign on the Parliament’s initial CCD draft recommendations (12 Nov) Link to IMCO Meeting Documents Link to Amendments on the Consumer Credit Directive (Original Version) Link to ECRC website section on "EU-Consumer Credit Directive (CCD)"

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