Annexes to COM(2020)356 - Communication to the EP concerning the Council's position on a regulation on European crowdfunding service providers for business - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(2020)356 - Communication to the EP concerning the Council's position on a regulation on European crowdfunding service providers for ... |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2020)356  |
| date | July 29, 2020 |
4. Comments on the position of the Council
In line with the political agreement, the Council’s first reading position introduces a list of changes to the Commission’s proposal, which include:
·Establishing a harmonised EU-wide framework under the licensing and supervision of national competent authorities to replace the original optional EU regime proposed by the Commission for crowdfunding services provided by crowdfunding service providers. A few selected tasks are left to the European Securities Markets Authority, among which the preparation of implementing measures, binding mediation and data collection;
·Increasing the issuance threshold to EUR 5 million, with a temporary derogation of 24 months for Member States whose prospectus threshold is less than EUR 5 million;
·Extending the scope to include admitted instruments for crowdfunding purposes (shares of limited liability companies);
·Extending the scope of services to include individual portfolio management of loans;
·Differentiating between sophisticated and non-sophisticated investors as well as additional investor protection measures for non-sophisticated investors.
The Council’s position fully reflects the political agreement reached between the European Parliament and the Council on 18 December 2019. The Commission believes that these amendments to the proposal do not undermine its original policy objectives. Therefore, the Commission can endorse the Council’s position.
5. Conclusion
While there are important deviations from the original proposal, the Commission expresses a positive opinion on the position adopted by the Council in first reading, as the text remains in line with the proposal’s original objectives. Moreover, the position fully reflects the outcome of the inter-institutional negotiations, which culminated with a political agreement on 18 December 2019.
The European Parliament’s adoption of the agreed text in second reading will mark an important milestone towards delivering on the shared objectives of improving access to finance for small and medium businesses, including start-ups and scale-up companies. In doing so, this should help the EU economy to recover even more rapidly from the current economic and health crisis.