Discussions are continuing in the Council of the European Union on the ‘FiDA’ regulation, proposed by the European Commission at the end of June 2023 (see EUROPE 13211/15), which aims to establish a framework of rules on access, use and re-use of customer data in financial services.
At the beginning of August, the Hungarian Presidency of the Council drew up a first draft of the amended text, including the revision proposals of the previous Belgian and Spanish Presidencies.
In a working document prepared for a meeting of national experts schedulded on Wednesday 4 September, of which Agence Europe has obtained a copy, the Hungarian Presidency nevertheless stresses that several key issues remain unresolved at this stage of the negotiations and that further discussions are necessary to achieve “a comprehensive understanding”.
For example, the Presidency is expected to sound out the Member States on the treatment of occupational pension schemes, on financial data sharing schemes and on an establishment criterion for third-country financial information service providers (FISPs).
Occupational pension schemes. EU countries are struggling to decide whether or not to include the category of data relating to occupational pensions within the scope of the ‘FiDA’ regulation.
The Commission argues that consumers would benefit from greater transparency about their pension entitlements, that this data is essential for the development of pension monitoring systems and that it would also help to improve investment advice.
However, several Member States prefer a total exclusion of these schemes, citing the risk of additional administrative costs and inequalities between schemes.
The Hungarian Presidency invites consideration of a compromise solution suggesting that countries that already have a pension monitoring system may exclude these schemes while offering the possibility of opting for inclusion in ‘FiDA’.
Financial Data Sharing Schemes. Discussions also focus on the relationship between two chapters of the draft FiDA regulation: Title II - Data Access and Title IV - Financial Data Sharing Schemes.
The debate centres on the need to determine whether access to data should be strictly linked to these schemes or whether it should also be possible outside these structures. Member States are divided on the issue, with some pointing to the risks of fragmentation and security if data is shared outside the schemes, while others advocate more flexible access.
Third-country financial information service providers. Finally, the Member States debate the regulation of third-country FISPs. The majority supports a strict rule requiring such companies to have a presence in the EU in order to operate there, in order to ensure adequate supervision.
However, some countries are proposing a more flexible approach, allowing foreign service providers access to the European market if they meet standards equivalent to those of the EU, following an assessment by the Commission. The choice is therefore between a strict establishment requirement and a more flexible equivalence system.
To see the working document: https://aeur.eu/f/d8m
To see the draft text: https://aeur.eu/f/d8n (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)