The European Union has given the go ahead to a joint venture programme between Vodafone, O2 and Everything Everywhere to provide mobile payments.

The joint venture programme was announced in March in order to develop a mobile payment solution in order to compete competitively against the likes of Google.

The decision comes after an investigation into the effects of the programme on competition.

The EC’s vice-president, Joaquín Almunia, said: “The proposed joint venture is one of several initiatives to develop the sector in Europe.”