RISK CAPITAL/SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP : NEW COMPROMISE ON EUROPEAN FUND LABEL CONFIRMED.

Nine months after an agreement was reached between Parliament, Council and Commission (on 28 June 2012), a compromise creating the European Social Entrepreneurship Funds and European Risk Capital Funds was adopted by the European Parliament, on 12 March.

The goal is to make investing in social enterprises and risk capital more attractive. The managers of these funds will benefit from harmonised conditions for registering, and a passport that is valid within the EU. With this European label, funds should be easier to identify - and to take seriously, since the holders of the title must respect quality criteria.

The initial agreement, approved during three-way talks under the Danish Presidency on 28 June 2012, was rejected by member states ten days later because the text excluded tax havens from the funds. While agreeing with this in principle, negotiators struggled to agree on a list of tax havens, since the...