Answer given by Vice-President Dombrovskis on behalf of the Commission

3.2.2017

As highlighted in the Commission Staff Working Document on Crowdfunding in the Capital Markets Union[1], the Commission believes that crowdfunding has the potential to be a useful alternative source of funds for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Despite its rapid development, crowdfunding remains relatively small and needs space to innovate and develop. As crowdfunding remains largely local and the sector is changing rapidly, there is no strong case for EU level policy intervention now.

The Commission Services are closely monitoring the national frameworks that EU Member States are putting in place to support the growth of the sector and ensure investors are appropriately protected. These frameworks are broadly consistent in terms of objectives and outcomes they seek to achieve, but are tailored to local markets and domestic regulatory approaches.

The Commission will keep developments in the sector under review, and meet regularly with European Supervisory Authorities, national regulators and the crowdfunding sector. The European Parliament will be invited to participate in this dialogue. This will ensure the Commission is able to respond in a timely manner if further steps to support regulatory convergence are needed. As part of this monitoring, the Commission has recently launched a study to identify the market and regulatory obstacles to the cross-border development of crowdfunding in the EU. The results are expected in the fall of 2017.

• [1] SWD(2016) 154 final, 3 May 2016.