This article examines the compatibility of the EU’s Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), which is meant to establish a common market for non–cash payments in Europe, with the GATS. For this purpose, this article gives a brief introduction to the SEPA project and to the GATS’ rules on financial services, which have received comparatively little attention in academic writings so far. Moreover, the article addresses the question under which conditions private action—such as the SEPA project—can be attributed to WTO Members under the GATT and the GATS, respectively.
Journal of World Trade