As announced (see EUROPE 12351/24), representatives of the European Parliament and the Council of the EU held their first negotiation meeting on Tuesday 22 October in Strasbourg on the proposal for a regulation to facilitate crowdfunding. They already share a common desire: reaching an agreement on the text by the end of the year.
According to a European source, this first ‘trilogue’ was mainly used to compare the positions of the co-legislators, and no decision has been taken at this stage. The meeting also served to show that there are many areas of convergence between the texts from the European Parliament (see EUROPE 12130/3) and the EU Council (see EUROPE 12282/16).
Among the main points that will be at the heart of the negotiations are the scope of the regulation, the definitions of the different forms of crowdfunding, the degree of rules harmonisation, the thresholds to be respected for crowdfunding offers, the level of involvement of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the division of tasks with the competent national authorities.
Slovakia’s Eugen Jurzyca (ECR) is leading the negotiations on behalf of Parliament and is determined to reach a “balanced agreement”.
“While both the Commission and Parliament maintain the autonomy of functioning national regimes and want to regulate first and foremost cross-border crowdfunding, it is the Council that proposes minimum harmonisation also applicable to national situations. The European Parliament would like to clarify rules in order to help cross-border situations where a project with an owner from one Member State is supported by an investor from another Member State”, he explained.
In Mr Jurzyca’s view, if this proposal is successfully implemented, it could indeed lead to greater efficiency and democratisation of the economy.
Parliament and EU Council negotiators will hold a second meeting on 6 November. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)