The European Commission has published a staff working document on “Crowdfunding in the EU Capital Markets Union“.

The Commission believes that crowdfunding is still relatively small (€4.2bn was raised by crowdfund in the EU in 2015); and that it tends to operate within, rather than across, national boundaries. But, it’s changing rapidly; and has the potential to become a key source of funding for SMEs “over the long term“.

The working paper summarises the rules that govern crowdfunding in each of Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and the UK today.

The Commission doesn’t think there’s a strong case for an EU level framework yet. It will keep the sector under review, meeting twice a year with “regulators and the sectors” to ensure that it can respond in a timely way if “further steps to support regulatory convergence are needed … to promote the development of the sector and to ensure appropriate investor protection“.

The Commission’s press release is available here.

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