Article 5a 2.

By way of derogation from paragraph 1, and subject to having obtained the prior permission of its competent authorities based on those authorities’ assessment of its access to liquidity in euro, a PSP located in a Member State whose currency is not the euro shall not be obliged to offer PSUs the payment service of sending instant credit transfers in euro beyond a limit per transaction, from payment accounts denominated in the national currency of that Member State, during the time when that PSP neither sends nor receives non-instant credit transfer transactions in euro with respect to such payment accounts. That limit shall be set by the competent authorities and shall not be lower than EUR 25 000 . Competent authorities may grant prior permission at the request of the PSP for a period of one year. At the request of the PSP, competent authorities may extend that prior permission by further periods of one year following a reassessment by the competent authorities of the PSP’s access to liquidity in euro. Competent authorities shall inform the Commission on an annual basis of prior permissions and extensions granted in accordance with this paragraph.