The MasterCard cross-border multilateral interchange fee is contrary to EU competition law and must be removed, in line with a judgement of the European Court of Justice, the GRTU said.

Welcoming the decision, the Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises said it hoped that the national competition authorities would also follow the ECJ's lead.

"We are delighted with this decision, which wholly vindicates retail's 10-year campaign against these anti-competitive fees. We now call on the Commission to follow this up with radical and decisive regulatory solutions to make payments in Europe truly competitive.

"GRTU commend the court on its unequivocal rulings on the economic basis of the multilateral interchange fee. These clearly show that the court upholds the Commission's view on the anti-competitive nature of the MIF.

"The retail sector has long argued that the MIF is an unseen and non-negotiable burden for merchants and the Commission's own figures show that card transactions cost EU merchants €25 billion per year," the GRTU said.