Thursday, March 9, 2006

EU cooperation with countries aiming at joining it to tackle payment fraud

The European Commission has held a seminar on prevention of payment fraud which took place on 8-9 March 2006 in BrusselsIt was attended by representatives from the public and private sectors of Bulgaria and Romania (accession countries); Croatia, Turkey and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (candidate countries); and Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia Herzegovina (potential candidate countries). The aim of the seminar was to enable police officers, prosecutors and regulators from these countries to increase their knowledge and awareness of the issues involved in payment fraud. It was a first step towards enhancing cooperation on payment fraud between EU Member States and these countries.

The seminar was a joint initiative between DG Enlargement's TAIEX (Technical Assistance Information Exchange instrument, DG Internal Market and Services, Visa, Mastercard, and the European Payment Council's Card Fraud Prevention Task Force. Almost one hundred delegates from the banking sector, law enforcement, public prosecution, the retail sector and consumer associations, from EU Member States and countries aiming to join the EU, actively participated in the discussions.

The participants concluded that enhanced co-operation between market participants and public authorities, is the cornerstone of effective prevention of payment fraud. Joint efforts are essential given the cross-border nature of payment fraud and the existence of organised criminal groups. Up-to-date knowledge of the issues is also a precondition for successful results. Pan-European training programmes for financial investigators are essential and should be developed. Consideration may also be given to the creation of specialised or centralised units dealing with payment fraud. Additional clarification of existing EU data protection legislation may be needed in order to enable more cross-border exchange of information.

The seminar is an initiative under the EU Action Plan 2004-2007 to prevent fraud on non-cash payments. More information on the Action Plan and its activities is provided in the EU Fraud Prevention Expert Group Newsletter at:

http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/payments/fraud/index_en.htm

Source TAIEX Instrument

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