The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in three opinions adopted at its plenary session on 24 and 25 February, supported the package of measures on digital finance, presented by the European Commission in September.
The package includes a comprehensive strategy (see EUROPE 12562/10), a new customised regulatory framework for crypto-assets (see EUROPE 12567/2) and legislative proposals on the digital operational resilience of the financial sector (see EUROPE 12567/4).
In its opinion, drawn up by Petru Sorin Dandea and Jörg Freiherr Frank von Fürstenwerth, the EESC endorses the Commission’s digital finance strategy and stresses that the considerable challenges in the EU financial sector arising from digitisation must be addressed without prevarication.
The EESC approves in particular the creation of an EU platform for digital finance, but stresses that the social partners and representatives of civil society must have a voice in this process.
In its opinion drawn up by Giuseppe Guerini, the EESC also endorses the two initiatives presented by the Commission concerning markets for crypto-assets and a pilot scheme for market infrastructures based on Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT).
In plenary session, Mr Guerini also supported the rapid adoption of these measures, by mid-2022, while pointing out that it will nevertheless be important not to lose sight of consumer and investor protection.
Finally, on digital operational resilience, the opinion drawn up by Antonio García Del Riego supports the establishment of a common set of standards to mitigate IT risks and facilitate the harmonisation of supervisory practices, while providing the necessary legal certainty and guarantees for financial undertakings and IT service providers.
The text nevertheless calls for avoiding the addition of unnecessary bureaucratic obstacles that could prevent EU financial institutions from participating in the global innovation process. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)