Here
We know no facts from the article, so we need to deduce what's going on.
Yes, credit card companies (and debit card suppliers) charge the retailer a fee for CC/DC transactions. And of course such a cost is added to the cost of supplying goods or services. What is wrong with that? All costs of sales are added into the sale price of any good or service. Maybe it would be more transparent to add these transaction charges to our CC bill. Of course the seller would still charge the same market clearing price for the good or service, but we might be less likely to buy on CC's quite so frequently.
Are these fees charged by the CC/DC companies 'too high'? As long as their is a competitive market in supplying such services, no. So just why is the EU getting involved in price fixing? It cannot know the 'right price'. Furthermore it is the EU's rampant regulationism which proto nationalises retail banking that actually restricts competition.
In any event the use of credit is actively encouraged by all governments including the EU to boost consumption,(on the flawed premise that this boosts the economy). So the CC companies probably have more money floating about than they know what to do with.
Walter Merricks has a long history of consumerist failure like this. I think he's just looking for work, again.
Classic consumerist nonsense and the bureaucratic technique of creating a non problem which allows them to justify their existence and concentrate benefits and distribute costs.
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