The Council of European National Top-level domain Registries (CENTR) has issued recommendations to modify the EU’s Financial Data Access Regulation proposal, warning about the potentially irreversible effects on European consumers and businesses. CENTR stresses the critical role of ccTLDs in managing the internet’s “phone book” and argues that the proposed domain-level enforcement could harm consumer access to financial data and services.

The Financial Data Access (FiDA) regulation aims to enhance financial services market diversity, emphasizing consumer control over their financial data. However, CENTR believes that the enforcement actions suggested by FiDA, like domain name deletion or suspension, could undermine these goals by limiting access to essential financial information and services.

CENTR advocates for removing domain-level enforcement actions from FiDA, arguing they could detrimentally affect consumers and businesses without offering significant benefits. The association emphasizes the importance of domain names for online identity and business, suggesting that any enforcement measures should align with existing EU consumer protection laws.

Urgent plea for reevaluation: Polina Malaja, CENTR’s Policy Director, calls on EU co-legislators to reconsider the implications of domain name deletions on both the financial sector and consumers. Malaja underscores that FiDA’s intention to diversify financial services and prioritize consumer interests is at odds with the proposed domain-level actions, which could disrupt financial business continuity and restrict consumer access to financial data and services. CENTR’s stance highlights the need for alignment between FiDA proposals and existing consumer protection frameworks.