Definition
The European Commission is the executive of the European Union.
It is the body that proposes the directives and regulations — PSD2, its revision PSD3, FIDA, MiCA, DORA — that the member states must then transpose or apply directly.
Commission, Parliament, Council: who decides
The "European legislator" is in fact three institutions:
- Commission — proposes the texts (a near-exclusive legislative initiative).
- Parliament — votes on the texts (elected by universal suffrage).
- Council of the EU — also votes, representing the member states' governments.
For a directive like PSD3 to be adopted, Parliament and the Council must approve the same text, which the three institutions negotiate in trilogue. For PSD3, the provisional agreement dates from 27 November 2025, and formal adoption has not yet taken place.
Commission, EBA, ACPR
Three tiers in the chain:
- Commission — makes the framework law (directives, regulations).
- EBA — translates it into technical rules (RTS, guidelines).
- ACPR (and national counterparts) — applies it on the ground (licensing, supervision, sanctions).
What the Commission does for fintech
- Proposes the structuring texts: PSD2 (2015), PSD3 (proposed in 2023), FIDA (2023), MiCA (2023), DORA (2025).
- Mandates the EBA to draft the RTS.
- Monitors transposition by the states and can sanction a defaulting state.
- Launches public consultations that fintechs can contribute to.
- Steers strategies (Digital Finance Strategy, Retail Payments Strategy) that set the course for 5 to 10 years.
What the Commission does not do
- It does not vote alone: Parliament and Council are mandatory.
- It does not grant licences: that is the ACPR or its national equivalent.
- It does not write the RTS: that is the EBA.
- It does not supervise players day to day: the national authorities do.
In the PSD2 ecosystem
The Commission sits upstream of the whole regulatory chain. To anticipate what will affect fintech in 2 to 5 years, it is its legislative proposals and digital strategies that you should follow.
Real-world examples
- PSD2 (2015): the Commission established the principle of mandatory Open Banking — the origin of the whole current AISP/PISP market.
- PSD3 and PSR (2023): proposed in June 2023, with a provisional agreement in November 2025, they are not yet adopted. They make a dedicated interface mandatory for banks, strengthen the fight against fraud and merge the payment institution and electronic money institution statuses.
- FIDA (2023): an extension of the Open Banking model to all financial data (insurance, savings, credit), still under negotiation and with no political agreement.
- Anticipating: following the DG FISMA public consultations remains the best way for a fintech to influence the texts before they are set in stone.