At its latest economic and financial affairs meeting, the Council - made up of minsters from EU member states - reiterated its backing for the Sepa (Single euro payments area) project and the upcoming migration deadline for credit transfers and direct debits.

However, the Council observed that some stakeholders seemed to be planning for a late Sepa migration and may be exposed to "undue operational risks impacting smooth handling of payments". The body "regrets" the slow pace of preparation in most countries and cites a recent ECB report highlighting the particular problems with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and local public administrations, whose awareness about the programme is still "fragmented and the level of preparedness is rather poor".

These end-users have to get ready for the switch-over, says the Council, warning that payment orders which are not submitted in the right format from 1 February may not be processed.

They also recommended that member states should set up advertising campaigns to inform SMEs and others what is required. They even said that banks and other payment service providers needed to step up their efforts to familiarise end-users on technical, business and contractual issues related to Sepa migration and provide assistance for the move. For a start, individual information letters should be sent out to corporate clients.

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This is almost laughable. It is as if they don't know how much work banks and PSPs have been doing to promote SEPA. I don't normally feel sorry for banks and PSPs, but this is really unfair criticism. However, what will be the solution to this mess?