Regulation (EC) No 1781/2006 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

Article 17 Agreements with territories or countries which do not form part of the territory of the Community

1. The Commission may authorise any Member State to conclude agreements, under national arrangements, with a country or territory which does not form part of the territory of the Community as determined in accordance with Article 299 of the Treaty, which contain derogations from this Regulation, in order to allow for transfers of funds between that country or territory and the Member State concerned to be treated as transfers of funds within that Member State.

Such agreements may be authorised only if:

(a) the country or territory concerned shares a monetary union with the Member State concerned, forms part of the currency area of that Member State or has signed a Monetary Convention with the European Community represented by a Member State;

(b) payment service providers in the country or territory concerned participate directly or indirectly in payment and settlement systems in that Member State;

and

(c) the country or territory concerned requires payment service providers under its jurisdiction to apply the same rules as those established under this Regulation.

2. Any Member State wishing to conclude an agreement as referred to in paragraph 1 shall send an application to the Commission and provide it with all the necessary information.

Upon receipt by the Commission of an application from a Member State, transfers of funds between that Member State and the country or territory concerned shall be provisionally treated as transfers of funds within that Member State, until a decision is reached in accordance with the procedure set out in this Article.

If the Commission considers that it does not have all the necessary information, it shall contact the Member State concerned within two months of receipt of the application and specify the additional information required.

Once the Commission has all the information it considers necessary for appraisal of the request, it shall within one month notify the requesting Member State accordingly and shall transmit the request to the other Member States.

3. Within three months of the notification referred to in the fourth subparagraph of paragraph 2, the Commission shall decide, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 16(2), whether to authorise the Member State concerned to conclude the agreement referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.

In any event, a decision as referred to in the first subparagraph shall be adopted within eighteen months of receipt of the application by the Commission.