The European Commission on Saturday welcomed the accession of 40 banks from Albania, Moldova, Montenegro and North Macedonia to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), a move expected to make euro transactions with the European Union faster, cheaper and more secure.
The inclusion of the four Enlargement partners is projected to save individuals and businesses up to €500 million in transaction costs and to simplify cross-border trade, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises, the Commission said in a statement.
“Today, we celebrate the tangible results that our ongoing efforts to gradually integrate candidate countries bring to their people and businesses,” Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said. “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.”
The European Payments Council approved the decision after the countries entered SEPA’s geographical scope — Albania and Montenegro in November 2024, and North Macedonia and Moldova in March 2025.
The move is part of the EU’s Growth Plans for the Western Balkans and for Moldova, designed to align national regulations with EU standards and accelerate socio-economic integration by providing gradual access to parts of the bloc’s single market.