Odaily Planet Daily News EU elections will begin on Thursday. For the cryptocurrency industry, this means that key lawmakers may lose their seats in the new 720-member parliament, and the industry's policy agenda will enter an unstable period. Crypto experts are closely watching how lawmakers handle the delicate balance between regulation and innovation. Mark Foster, head of EU policy at the Crypto Council for Innovation, said: "There seems to be a recognition that while regulation is important and can play a role, it can also go too far and be seen as an obstacle." The crypto industry will pay attention to who will play several key roles in the new parliament. For example, the Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee has played a vital role in revising and developing crypto legislation over the past five years. It shaped MiCA, which regulates the market on behalf of crypto assets, as well as rules to prevent money laundering. The Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee and the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee also have an impact on crypto legislation. There are several pending draft laws that were not completed before the election. These bills will require a rapporteur, or the appointment of a chief negotiator in Parliament. The digital euro is a controversial proposal. The digital euro will also need a new parliamentary leader if German MEP Stefan Berger does not return to complete the process. Other legislation on payment services and financial data will also need new MEPs to take the lead. The Payment Services Regulation will be crucial in determining whether issuers of fiat-backed stablecoins or e-money tokens need to comply with more onerous measures than those proposed by MiCA. The European Commission will report on progress on DeFi and NFTs and assess any risks the ecosystem may pose to consumers and markets. The MiCA framework largely excludes these two areas of the crypto industry and focuses on service providers. Instead, the Commission will decide whether additional legislation is needed based on its findings. The report on DeFi and NFTs will be published in December and will include insights from Europe's financial markets and banking regulators. MiCA, which covers licensing requirements for stablecoin issuers as well as crypto companies to protect markets and consumers, will be implemented in phases from the end of June.Financial institutions, including crypto service providers, will also need to comply with enhanced IT security requirements from 2025 under the Digital Operational Resilience Act. The DLT pilot is another project in the European Commission's digital finance package. It was designed for market participants to experiment with tokenized financial instruments, but it has not had much success. Europe has also developed cryptocurrency-focused anti-money laundering rules to collect data on the sender and receiver of transactions under the Funds Transfer Regulation. "Over the next five years, the duration of this legislative cycle, we will see a lot more focus on DLT and its underlying technologies," said Foster. This could include decentralized digital identities and wallets, or transforming financial market infrastructure with features such as instant settlement to eliminate intermediaries. The next European Commission leaders will be nominated by EU member states and then elected by the European Parliament. This process will take place after the summer. The new European Commission president (most likely to be current president Ursula von der Leyen) and the commissioners leading the finance and technology sectors will be responsible for any new legislation that may affect cryptocurrencies or blockchain. The European Commission also plays an important role in allocating the EU budget to achieve its long-term goals of digitalization or sustainability. These include projects such as blockchain infrastructure, known as Europeum. It also includes other initiatives to update internet infrastructure and digitize services or businesses. Foster said: "This is an important factor in enabling citizens to use Web3 and crypto products and services." (DL News)