logo-euconcEurodiaconia welcomes the final adoption by the European Council of the directive guaranteeing all people legally living in Europe access to banking services, irrespective of their place of residence or financial situation. This is an important step in the fight for financial inclusion, as around 58 million EU citizens over the age of 15 still do not have a payment account.

Eurodiaconia has been closely following the discussions, also signing a joint letter in March this year to call on decision makers to ensure the legislation protects vulnerable users. Eurodiaconia has also published a briefing on financial inclusion in 2012, which you can read here.

The Directive will now be signed by the European Parliament and published in the official Journal of the European Union. Member States will then have two years after its entry into force to implement the Directive into their national law. Eurodiaconia is looking forward to following closely the implementation process that will (hopefully) enable the most vulnerable to have a bank account.

Read the Press Release here.