Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Stablecoins

Change 7

Changed10.18. Notes that stablecoins can fall into two categories under the MiCAR legal framework, as asset-referenced tokens and as electronic money (e-money) tokens;

Change 8

Changed11.19. Notes that stablecoins are a form of private money creation and that their economic function shows similarities to exchange rate pegs, money market funds and narrow banks; stresses, however, that MiCAR prohibits issuers of e-money tokens and crypto-asset service providers from directly or indirectly granting interest in relation to e-money tokens, and that stablecoins do not have direct access to central banks and their holders are not subject tocovered publicby deposit guarantees;guarantee schemes; notes the devaluation riskor ofde-pegging and disintermediation risks associated with stablecoins;

Change 9

Removed12. Acknowledges the lack of legal certainty in EU law regarding the possibility of the multi-issuance of stablecoins by an EU and a non-EU entity, where the digital stablecoins issued by both entities are fully fungible and indistinguishable; calls on the Commission to come forward with a legislative proposal urgently on this matter to ensure legal certainty, and to provide strong prudential safeguards, robust cooperation arrangements, and enhanced crisis management protocols;

Added20. Welcomes the emergence of euro-denominated e-money tokens under MiCAR and encourages their development to support EU payment innovation, the competitiveness of the EU’s financial markets and the international role of the euro, including through faster and lower-cost cross-border payments, complementary to tokenised deposits and wholesale CBDC; stresses the importance of harmonised liquidity-risk and crisis-management frameworks, including redemption waterfalls and reserve-segregation requirements; notes that the ECB upholds that non-euro denominated stablecoins may pose risks to monetary policy if their usage becomes widespread; expresses caution about the misuse of the ‘reverse solicitation’ clause;

RemovedOther aspects

Added21. Acknowledges the need for legal certainty in EU law regarding the possibility of the multi-issuance of stablecoins by an EU and a non-EU entity, where the digital stablecoins issued by both entities would be fully fungible and indistinguishable; recalls that the ESRB has warned for multi-issuance as a potential channel of contagion; stresses the need to ensure that the operation of such schemes in the EU is based on legal certainty and a robust regulatory framework providing strong prudential safeguards, robust cooperation arrangements and enhanced crisis management protocols; underlines the importance of promoting international coordination on the regulation and supervision of global stablecoins, with a view to developing international standards;

Removed13. Underlines that interoperability is crucial in digital finance, requiring, for instance, portable identity and verifiable credentials as enabling components of cross-network market infrastructure; stresses that legal entity identifier/verifiable legal entity identifier-type approaches should be assessed as infrastructure-grade tools;

Added22. Welcomes the provisional agreement on the proposals for a directive6 and regulation7 on payment services and the simplified authorisation solution for crypto asset service providers already authorised under MiCAR to avoid unnecessary regulatory overlap, which would be subject to a streamlined procedure, while keeping appropriate risk controls and providing only services specified in the application;

Removed14. Notes the ongoing discussions on the digital euro;

AddedCross-cutting considerations

Added23. Underlines that interoperability is crucial in digital finance, requiring, for instance, portable identity and verifiable credentials as enabling components of cross-network market infrastructure; stresses that legal entity identifier/verifiable legal entity identifier-type approaches should be assessed as infrastructure-grade tools; calls on the Commission to work with European and international standards organisations to develop common technical standards and protocols for digital assets, smart contracts and digital identities;

Added24. Welcomes the ongoing discussions on the digital euro, including the preparations for both retail and wholesale uses, and supports ongoing short-term track (Pontes) and long-term track (Appia) DLT projects for wholesale central bank money settlement; calls on the Commission and the ECB to ensure that future digital euro solutions are designed to facilitate interoperability with DLT infrastructures and ensure complementarity alongside cash;

25. Regrets the EU’s dependence on non-EU service providers for DLT infrastructure; emphasises that the US administration’s treatment of digital assets should be monitored with prudence;

Change 10

Changed16.26. Notes the ongoing discussions on the supervision of crypto-asset service providers;providers regarding the role of ESMA as part of the market integration and supervision package;

°

° °

27. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.