At an 'Agriculture and Fisheries' session on Monday 9 October, the Council of the European Union approved, under 'A' points, the inter-institutional agreement reached in May of this year on the legislative proposal governing the activities of venture capital funds (EuVECA) and social entrepreneurship funds (EuSEF) (see EUROPE 11799).
Readers may recall that the text adopted without debate by the Council - and approved by the European Parliament on 14 September (see EUROPE 11862) - aims to improve access to financing for SMEs and social enterprises.
Amongst other things, it provides for: - a relaxed definition of the SMEs in which funds must invest 70% of the capital subscribed by its clients in order to obtain the European passport; - an extension of access to these funds for venture capital fund managers with portfolios of more than €500 million; - a reduction in costs by explicitly prohibiting charges levied by the competent authorities of the host member states in which no supervisory activities are carried out.
“By making it easier for them to raise money on capital markets, the aim is that businesses should not rely exclusively on bank loans”, said the Estonian finance minister, Toomas Tõniste, in a press release. The regulation will apply three months after its entry into force. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)