Referendum boost as Brussels pledges red tape review
At least 40 laws that make it harder for small businesses to raise money will be reviewed
One of the main gripes from the business community and the UK at large about the EU is the amount of red tape in generates. Well that might be about to change.
Jonathan Hill, the British EU commissioner for financial services, has announced a major review of 40 pieces of legislation introduced since the financial crisis. He has also detailed plans for a Credit Market Union that would relax rules which currently pose a barrier to cross-border investment, in an effort to boost non-bank funding of smaller businesses.
"According to the Commission, companies in the EU currently get around 80 per cent of their funding from banks, in contrast to the United States, where the figure is nearer to 20 per cent," says the BBC. "Improving non-bank lending is hoped in particular to help smaller businesses, who have found it hard to get investment from banks since the crisis."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Daily Telegraph says in particular the plans could see minimum investment limits of €100,000 in venture capital funds scrapped, opening the door to smaller investors.
A limit on the size of funds that can "passport" across the EU to invest in businesses could also be removed.
Elsewhere, restrictions on how pension and insurance funds can be invested could also be eased. James Walsh from the National Association of Pension Funds told the paper a more "positive approach" would recognise that pension funds are "major institutional investors" that can pump money into in the economy.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Lord Hill was careful not to criticise the work of his predecessors as he stressed the proposals did not mean "the big reforms... the architecture we put in place [post crisis] was wrong". But he added: "When you've done 40 major pieces of legislation in five years... common sense tells you that you are unlikely to have been able to work out all the consequences and interconnections."
The development marks a shift away from "crisis management", added Jyrki Katainen, vice-president of the commission responsible for jobs and investment. "Stability has come back... now we are in the situation where we have to use the European regulatory power to create new markets."
The news will be a welcome boost for the campaign to keep Britain in the EU in the lead up to the upcoming in/out referendum, after a recent poll found a small lead for those in favour of leaving the union.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The biggest climate records in the last year
In Depth The number of records set in the past year is a stark reminder of the destructiveness of climate change
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
'The future of abortion access in many states may come down to who has the final say'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court rejects challenge to CFPB
Speed Read The court rejected a conservative-backed challenge to the way the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is funded
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Will Aukus pact survive a second Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question US, UK and Australia seek to expand 'game-changer' defence partnership ahead of Republican's possible return to White House
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
It's the economy, Sunak: has 'Rishession' halted Tory fightback?
Today's Big Question PM's pledge to deliver economic growth is 'in tatters' as stagnation and falling living standards threaten Tory election wipeout
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Why your local council may be going bust
The Explainer Across England, local councils are suffering from grave financial problems
By The Week UK Published
-
Rishi Sunak and the right-wing press: heading for divorce?
Talking Point The Telegraph launches 'assault' on PM just as many Tory MPs are contemplating losing their seats
By Keumars Afifi-Sabet, The Week UK Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
How the biggest election year in history might play out
The Explainer Votes in world's biggest democracies, as well as its most 'despotic' and 'stressed' countries, face threats of violence and suppression
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Good democracies include their poorest citizens. The UK excludes them'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published