Brussels, 07/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - Amongst its new tools to improve funding for SMES, the Commission has proposed standard rules to facilitate access to venture capital and credit.
As Europe's economic success has been largely dependent on the capacity of its 23 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which contribute more than half of total added value in the market economy sector and were behind 80% of jobs created in the last five years, Commissioner Antonio Tajani has made the access of SMEs to funding a priority of his actions to help them to make full use of their growth potential. On top of measures presented last week in the framework of the Programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and SMEs (COSME) for the period 2014-2020, which provides an envelope of €1.4 billion in new financial guarantees, the commissioner on Wednesday 7 December unveiled his new strategy to facilitate SMEs' access to venture capital and credit, against a difficult background for loans to the real economy. Supported by reinforced financial support from the EU budget and the EIB, his plan is based on a regulation establishing standard rules on the marketing of venture capital funds. “In Europe, just 2% of the funding needs of SMEs are covered by venture capital”, stressed Tajani, adding that this proportion is five times higher in the United States, a figure considered by the European executive as a target.
The European venture capital fund aims to create a “passport” for venture capital funds which commit to earmark at least 70% of the capital invested in them in SMEs. This passport, which will constitute a sort of quality label, will allow them to raise funds throughout Europe, under standard rules and quality norms, and will release them from being subject to requirements which vary greatly between member states. Thanks to these standard rules, investors will know exactly what they will get when they invest in a European venture capital fund.
The proposal will bring in a standardised approach to the categories of investors allowed to invest capital to a European venture capital fund. These investors will be professional investors as defined by the 2004 directive on the financial instruments markets and other classic venture capital investors (such as wealthy individuals or business angels). The standard rules on venture capital investors will guarantee that the marketing can be adapted to the needs of the categories of investors. The regulation also provides, for all eligible venture capital funds managers, a European passport entitling the holder to market these funds to admissible investors throughout the EU. Here, the Commission is defending a notable improvement compared to the rules in force in the field of capital management, notably the directive on alternative investment fund managers (AIFMD).
The Commission has also indicated that the EIB will continue to grant loans to SMEs at the same rate as in 2011, at a level of €10 billion a year. (EH/transl.fl)