BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 17. The European
Commission has welcomed 40 banks from Albania, Moldova, Montenegro
and North Macedonia have officially joined the Single Euro Payments
Area (SEPA) schemes, Trend reports.
This historic development is set to make euro transactions
between these four partners and the European Union more reliable,
faster, and cheaper, potentially saving up to 500 million euros for
individuals and businesses. For small and medium-sized enterprises,
it will also simplify international transactions and enhance
cross-border trade.
Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos said: “Today, we
celebrate the tangible results that our ongoing efforts to
gradually integrate candidate countries bring to their people and
businesses. Our work does not stop here. We will continue to strive
for the full operationalisation of SEPA schemes for our candidate
countries, bringing their citizens and businesses even closer to
the European Union”.
This decision was made by the European Payments Council after
the four countries entered SEPA’s geographical scope – Albania and
Montenegro in November 2024, and North Macedonia and Moldova in
March 2025.
This is a practical example of the impact of the Growth Plan for
the Western Balkans and the Growth Plan for Moldova, by aligning
national rules with EU rules. These EU initiatives aim to
accelerate the socio-economic integration of these regions into the
European Union, including by providing gradual access to certain
areas of the EU single market, in line with EU standards and
regulations.