The European Union’s Council of Ministers has approved the European Venture Capital Funds Regulation (EVCFR), removing one of the final obstacles before the EVCFR, which will simplify cross-border fundraising for venture capital funds, becomes law.
It is a voluntary EU wide “passport” and an alternative for some funds to the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD), which will regulate private equity from July this year.
This is good news for European venture capital and shows how, by working with European policymakers, the EVCA can achieve positive results. The EVCA has been making the case for the EVCFR since before it was formally proposed in December 2011.
The Council’s approval comes after the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of the regulation (see here).
Both the Council, where national ministers from EU member states sit, and Parliament had to approve the EVCFR for it to come into force. All that remains now are some technical details to be ironed out by the European Commission and the EVCA expects that to happen without any major problems.
The EVCFR should come online in July this year, at the same time as the AIFMD.