Crowdfunding Regulation in Europe

As a new model for raising capital, money raised through crowdfunding is making an impact across all of Europe. In German-speaking countries alone, more than a quarter-million Euros have been raised through crowdsourcing platforms to finance numerous start-ups, projects and good cause initiatives. This has attracted the attention of the European policy makers. At a conference in Poland this coming November, a European declaration on crowdfunding will be released. Naturally, the question of regulation has been raised; given that both the model and rules of participation have yet to be defined and adopted in a consistent way, there remains much ambiguity.

In general, there is still a lot of confusion when it comes to crowdfunding, especially when cross-border fundraising is involved. Since the European Union is trying to develop a single payment mechanism that can work across the continent of Europe, for countries that have both adopted the Euro as their currency and for others that remain with their national currencies, there is hardly any surprise that there is a need for some clarification and transparency at the European level.

Towards that goal, the Institute for Communication in Social Media (www.ikosom.de) and David Roethler, a consultant on digital trends and European fundraising, are conducting a study about crowdfunding schemes in the cultural and creative industries sector in Europe on behalf of the European Expert Network on Culture (EENC), a network set-up by the European Commission.

Read more