9.10.2009 Official Journal of the European Union L 266/11 REGULATION (EC) No 924/2009 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 16 September 2009 on cross-border payments in the Community and repealing Regulation (EC) No 2560/2001 (Text with EEA relevance) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 95(1) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1), Having regard to the opinion of the European Central Bank (?), Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (%), Whereas: (1) For the proper functioning of the internal market and in order to facilitate cross-border trade within the Community it is essential that the charges for cross- border payments in euro are the same as for corres- ponding payments within a Member State. That principle of equality of charges is established by Regu- lation (EC) No 2560/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 December 2001 on cross- border payments in euro (¥), which applies to cross- border payments in euro and in Swedish kronor up to EUR 50 000, or equivalent. (2)  The report of the Commission of 11 February 2008 on the application of Regulation (EC) No 2560/2001 on cross-border payments in euro, confirmed that the appli- cation of that Regulation has effectively brought down the charges for cross-border payment transactions in euro to the level of national charges and that the Regu- lation has encouraged the European payments industry to make the necessary efforts to build a Community-wide infrastructure for payments. (') Opinion of 24 March 2009 (not yet published in the Official Journal). () OJ C 21, 28.1.2009, p. 1. (}) Opinion of the European Parliament of 24 April 2009 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 27 July 2009. (*) OJ L 344, 28.12.2001, p. 13. (3)  The Commission’s report examined the practical problems encountered in relation to the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 2560/2001. In conclusion, a number of amendments to that Regulation were proposed in order to address the problems identified during the review process. Those problems concern the disruption of the internal market in payments caused by divergent  statistical  reporting  obligations,  the enforcement of Regulation (EC) No 2560/2001 due to a lack of identified national competent authorities, the absence of out-of-court redress bodies for disputes related to that Regulation, and the fact that the Regu- lation does not cover direct debits. (4)  Directive 2007/64/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 November 2007 on payment services in the internal market (°) provides a modern legal foun- dation for the creation of a Community-wide internal market for payments. In order to ensure legal consistency between both legal acts, it is advisable to amend the relevant provisions of Regulation (EC) No 2560/2001, in particular the definitions. (5)  Regulation (EC) No 2560/2001 covers cross-border credit transfers and cross-border electronic payment transactions. In conformity with the objective of Directive 2007/64/EC, which is to make cross-border direct debits possible, it is advisable to extend the scope of Regulation (EC) No 2560/2001. It is still not advisable to apply the principle of equality of charges for payment instruments which are mainly or exclusively paper-based, such as cheques, since, by their very nature, they cannot be processed as efficiently as elec- tronic payments. (6)  The principle of equality of charges should apply to payments initiated or terminated on paper or in cash, which are processed electronically in the course of the payment execution chain, excluding cheques, and to all charges linked directly or indirectly to a payment trans- action, including charges linked to a contract but excluding currency conversion charges. Indirect charges include charges for setting up a permanent payment order, or fees for using a payment card, or debit or credit card, which should be the same for national and cross-border  payment  transactions  within  the Community. () O] L 319, 5.12.2007, p. 1.