- EC President Ursula von der Leyen has unveiled her cabinet picks.
- DL News lays out who got the portfolios to watch.
European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen unveiled her new team of commissioners this week.
The 26 commissioners will lead European policy for the next five years — if they survive a grilling by lawmakers.
But what do the nominations mean for crypto? Here are three things to watch.
1. New portfolios
Von der Leyen has assigned each commissioner-designate a portfolio — their area of responsibility. EU countries that put forward female commissioners were rewarded with powerful portfolios, as Von der Leyen strives for gender parity in her cabinet.
Von der Leyen gave the Portuguese candidate, the centre-right Maria Luis Albuquerque, the financial services portfolio.
It’s still unclear exactly what topics fall under which portfolios, but European policy lead for the Crypto Council of Innovation Mark Foster said this is the one to watch.
Crypto legislation, including the bloc’s flagship framework the Market in Crypto-Assets regulation, emanated from this department.
Albuquerque and all the other nominees must still be approved by the European Parliament after a session where they’re grilled about their priorities. In her favour, Albuquerque, a former Portuguese finance minister, has appropriate experience for her portfolio, Foster said.
On the other hand, she’s known for implementing strict austerity measures during her term as finance minister, “so she could be open to attacks from the left during her hearing,” Foster said.
It’s too early to know Albuquerque’s views on digital finance or crypto, Foster said. A letter from Von der Leyen sent to Albuquerque outlining her priorities doesn’t mention digital assets.
But that’s not necessarily worrying as the EU is well ahead of other jurisdictions, having rolled out MiCA and a smattering of other regulations, Foster argued.
“That’s recognition that there’s been an awful lot of work done over the past five years,” he said.
MiCA’s stablecoin rules are already live, and the next phase of the regulation — rules on exchanges — kicks in from the end of December.
2. The new EVPs
Von der Leyen has rejigged her cabinet structure, adding executive vice presidents with broad, overlapping portfolios to encourage coordinated policy.
The other commissioners will report to these six EVPs, four of whom are women.
“These different topic areas will overlap, so the commissioners will be required to work together on solutions,” Vyara Savova, a senior policy expert at the European Crypto Initiative, said.
Finnish commissioner, Henna Virkunnen is EVP for “technological sovereignty, security, and democracy.”
That gives her responsibility for Big Tech and so-called frontier technologies like artificial intelligence.
She may also be responsible for blockchain tech, as it relates to non-financial services use cases.
3. What does the new cabinet mean for crypto policy?
Foster said that with MiCA in train and regulators working on its finer points, lawmakers won’t put out more crypto-focused legislation right away.
“Right now, it’s more about making sure that what’s been done is effective and fit for purpose, and if it’s not, tweak it,” Foster said.
European crypto policy wonks are awaiting a report, expected early 2025, from the EU outlining its thinking on decentralised finance and non-fungible tokens.
These weren’t included in MiCA, as lawmakers felt the industries were too nascent to regulate, but the report will indicate a direction of travel.
‘Right now, it’s more about making sure that what’s been done is effective and fit for purpose, and if it’s not, tweak it.’
— Mark Foster
“The new commissioners will have to sign off on the report, and they may have their own views,” Foster said.
Foster said broader geopolitical issues could make crypto policy less of a priority than in the past five years.
The geopolitical context has changed, with, for example, a war in Ukraine, a more aggressive Russia, a new president in the US.
“There are some big structural issues that the commission will have to try and tackle, " Foster said.
“That means that individual things they could do that might be low-hanging fruit — revising this or improving that — might fall to the wayside because political priorities are so existential,” he added.
Reach out to the author at joanna@dlnews.com.
