For many reasons, payment systems are subject to strong network effects; one of those is the necessity of interoperability among participants. This is often accomplished via standard-setting organizations. The goal of the Single European Payments Area (SEPA) is to establish modern cross-boarder...

The contribution of financial and non-financial risks to the overall level of risk in the system depends on the current state of the EU banking system (which, in the aggregate and compared with banking sectors in other major advanced economies, cannot be characterised as strong) and how...