On Tuesday 9 October, the MEPs from the European Parliament's committee on economic and monetary affairs (ECON) discussed the amendments tabled to the draft report by Ashley Fox (ECR, UK) on the proposed regulation to facilitate crowdfunding.
"I'm reassured both from the amendments and the discussions that we had with the shadows that we are moving in the same direction. And many of the topics thus far have been uncontroversial", said Fox, by way of introduction.
In particular, his proposal to increase the threshold for crowdfunding offers to €8 million, as against the Commission's proposal of a limit of €1 million, is reported to be the subject of an agreement between the political groups. Only the Greens/EFA oppose, calling for a more cautious approach.
On the other hand, there are three clear stumbling blocks starting to emerge, Fox added.
ESMA's role. The first concerns his proposal to reinforce the role of the national competent authorities which, he argues, are closer to the national market and therefore better placed than ESMA to assess crowdfunding service providers (see EUROPE 12079).
"As we are creating a European tool, it seems interesting and relevant to me that the authorisation and supervision be the responsibility of ESMA", said Anne Sander (EPP, France) – a position supported by the S&D and Greens/EFA. The legal opinion of the European Parliament on this matter may help to enlighten the debate, she suggested.
Promising to take her suggestion on board, Fox nonetheless pointed out that this could considerably delay the text adoption process.
ICO. Another controversial point is his suggestion of governing certain initial coin offerings (ICO), in other words the raising of funds in crypto-currency, through this proposal (see EUROPE 12084).
The shadow rapporteurs of the EPP and Greens/EFA have stressed that the text was not the "right legislative vehicle" for this and that a separate Commission proposal would be preferable.
On the opposite corner, the EFDD supports the inclusion of ICO, as does Eva Kaili of Greece, the shadow rapporteur for the S&D Group, although the question has very much divided her group.
Pervenche Berès (S&D, France) made the case for an oral question to the Commission, with or without resolution, to deal with the subject "as it should be dealt with", rather than "by the back door".
Fox, who holds out little hope, said that this matter would no doubt be the subject of a compromise due to the excessive differences of opinion. "The only way to resolve this is to proceed to a vote", he acknowledged.
Third countries. As regards his proposal to authorise certain accredited crowdfunding service providers from third countries to offer their services throughout the EU, this does not seem to have the backing of the EPP, S&D or Greens/EFA shadow rapporteurs.
Discussions continued on the same day at a meeting of the shadow rapporteurs, to prepare for the vote by the ECON committee on 5 November. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)