Beaucoup de bruit pour rien : Directive sur le crédit à la consommation

Dans un commentaire rédigé en mai 2007 pour l’Institut de recherche européen sur le crédit (ECRI), Nicola Jentzsch et Karel Lannoo indiquent que la question de savoir si la directive sur le crédit à la consommation crééra un marché européen du crédit plus intégré et plus compétitif reste ouverte.

The reasons why a cross-border consumer credit market is « virtually non-existent » are not only related to whether or not conditions for credit have been harmonised, but rather to a broader set of issues, believe the authors – including natural market barriers, limited consumer attention and market access problems in retail finance. 

The agreement on the Directive in the Competitiveness Council on 22 May 2007 brings four years of contentious discussions to an end, observe Jentzsch and Lannoo. It is argued that the new rules will help to open the €800 billion-a-year consumer loan market, they add – which is fragmented along national borders, denying consumers greater choice and better prices. 

The ECRI paper outlines the following features of the new Consumer Credit Directive: 

• For pre-contractual and contractual information, it introduces a standardised format, enabling comparisons of credit products for consumers – designed to increase market transparency. 

• It retains consumers’ right of withdrawal, which now holds for 14 days. 

• For early repayment, in some circumstances there is a right of compensation for the creditor. 

• Creditors may indicate the interest rate and the charges, as well as display the Annual Percentage Rate of Charge (APR) according to national law. 

The authors concede that these rules could bring down costs for lenders active in several markets, but doubt that they will have any major impact on cross-border lending. They agree that standardising information and consumer protection rules theoretically reduces costs and facilitates consumer choice, but believe that the effect on market integration might be limited. 

The paper outlines further elements of the new Directive: 

• It adopts the targeted harmonisation approach, meaning full harmonisation in some areas and national leeway in others – such as the display of standard information for advertising. 

• It retains the principle of early repayment, as well as linked agreements. 

• It retains the previous rules governing database access. 

• Mortgage credits and hiring and leasing agreements are exempt, as are credit agreements in the form of an overdraft requiring repayment within a month. 

Jentzsch and Lannoo conclude that the Directive might reduce business costs for banking, but doubt that it will lead to any further integration of consumer credit markets in Europe. Despite such reservations, the agreement must be welcomed – considering the vast efforts invested in this Directive, they add.