Negotiations between representatives of the EU Parliament and EU Council on the proposed ‘MiCA’ regulation governing crypto-assets will take place on Tuesday 14 June, after the second trilogue failed in early June (see EUROPE 12955/23).
According to a source close to the Parliament contacted by EUROPE on 2 June, the negotiations are stalled because of stablecoins, crypto-currencies backed by between 2 and 3% of real money such as the dollar. “The Council is less ambitious and wants to exclude them”, the source reported.
According to a document prepared for the third trilogue and obtained by EUROPE, the French Presidency of the EU Council expresses its strong preference for excluding non-fungible tokens (NFT) from the scope of the regulation. Instead, it advocates that for NFTs (digital property rights, issued by a blockchain, and associated with a digital asset), a dedicated regime should be put in place in the EU in other legislation.
The French authorities are, however, paving the way for a compromise that would include stablecoins in a very limited way.
They also oppose the Parliament’s proposal to introduce regulatory technical standards to classify crypto-assets. They suggest a solution based on guidelines, for more harmonisation between Member States.
Furthermore, the French Presidency seems open to the idea - particularly important for the European Parliament - of taking into account the environmental impact of crypto-assets, but under the condition of proportionality.
In the second trilogue, Parliamentary negotiators agreed to include anti-money laundering provisions in the AML package as much as possible. They insisted on a list of crypto-assets service providers, either in the MiCA regulation or in the remittance regulation, which will also be subject to inter-institutional negotiations on Tuesday 14 June (see EUROPE 12942/23). The French Presidency was also open on this point.
See the French preparatory document: https://aeur.eu/f/215 (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)