EU lawmakers adopted a position paper on digital assets on Tuesday, setting out their views on how the bloc should approach crypto-regulation following the rollout of its Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework.

The paper calls on the European Commission to examine whether activities including decentralized finance (DeFi), crypto lending and borrowing, staking and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) should be brought more clearly into the EU’s regulatory sphere. It also calls for consistent application of MICA across member states and warns against national rules that could fragment the bloc’s digital asset market.

gave Vote The report, “Digital assets – challenges for the competitiveness and integrity of the EU financial system,” turns the Parliament’s formal policy position on digital assets, but it does not directly amend MiCA or create new legal obligations for crypto firms.

MiCA’s transitional period ended on July 1, requiring crypto-asset service providers that fall under the framework to obtain block-wide or national authorization to continue operating across the EU.

The EU Parliament overwhelmingly approved its digital asset policy stance. Source: European Parliament

EU lawmakers look ahead to MiCA.

The report reflects growing pressure in Brussels to tackle digital assets activities that fall outside the current scope of MICA.

While MiCA established Licensing and rules of conduct for crypto-asset service providers and specific token issuers, lawmakers continue to debate how the framework should treat DeFi, staking, lending, NFTs and tokenized financial assets.

Related: The EU crypto rulebook faces an enforcement challenge when the MICA transition ends.

The EC is already examining whether the MiCA should be extended. In May, it launched a public consultation seeking feedback on possible changes to the framework, including whether additional crypto activities should be covered and whether MICA restrictions on interest-bearing stablecoins should be revised.

A parliamentary report approved on Tuesday also takes a more supportive tone towards tokenization and euro-like stablecoins, arguing that digital assets could support the competitiveness of EU financial markets if regulated consistently across the bloc.

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