Towards the EU Capital Markets Union. SEP Investors Forum

On 18 February the European Commission launched the Green Paper on Building a Capital Markets Union, its landmark project to unlock funding for Europe’s businesses and to boost growth in the EU’s 28 Member States with the creation of a true single market for capital. The Capital Markets Union (CMU) aims to break down the barriers that are blocking cross-border investments in the EU and preventing businesses, especially SMEs and startups, from getting access to finance. The current environment is tough for businesses that remain heavily reliant on banks and relatively less on capital markets. With the CMU, the Commission also wants to clear obstacles that are preventing those who need financing from reaching investors and make the system for channelling those funds – the investment chain – as efficient as possible. The three-month consultation launched by the Green Paper will close on May 13rd, and the responses will contribute to shaping an Action Plan on CMU to help unlock non-bank funding so that start-ups can thrive and larger companies can expand further. The Action Plan is expected to be adopted by the Commission in the third quarter of this year.

In this context,  SEP Investors Forum has been asked by the European Commission (DG FISMA and DG CONNECT) to organize on March 25th in Brussels a by-invitation-only workshop (targeted at venture capital investors, tech startups, and finance experts from the startup community) to discuss the obstacles start-ups face to access finance from Europe’s capital markets, as well as possible measures to overcome these obstacles in the context of putting in place the building blocks for a Capital Markets Union by 2019. In this context, SEP Investors Forum may specifically focus on the discussion of actions which could facilitate the access of European startups to capital and the impact of such measures on the tech startup ecosystem.

The workshop aims at identifying possible priorities for the medium to longer term, balancing ambition and political realism. The conclusions of the discussions will be reflected in a working paper which will be submitted to the European Commission by end April.

20+ investors from 15+ countries are confirmed for participation, plus a similar number of experts from the startup and academic community.

The Workshop is moderated by Alberto Onetti (SEP Coordinator) and introduced  by Martin Merlin, Director for Financial Markets, DG FISMA and Viorel Peca, Head of Unit, Innovation Unit, DG CNECT. After the initial presentation of the CMU project by the European Commission and the Kick-off Interventions by University of Cambridge, European Investment Fund (EIF) and EVCA, the participants split into working groups to identify concrete proposals/lines of actions for the key areas described below.

A) How to increase scale of venture capital markets and develop these markets EU-wide.
B) How to develop private sources of VC funding to better complement existing sources of public funding
C) How to increase the take-up of EU Venture Capital Funds created by the EUVECA Regulation
D) How to develop exit opportunities for VC investors and create a better investment eco-system (including crowdfunding or P2P lending) for startups to boost the supply of VC funds to start-ups

Each working group, moderated by the European Commission, will be asked to report back the main findings in the final plenary session.

Below the detailed agenda.

• Introduction by Alberto Onetti, Coordinator, Startup Europe Partnership
• Introductory remarks by Martin Merlin, Director for Financial Markets, DG FISMA and Viorel Peca, Head of Unit, Innovation Unit, DG CNECT
• Presentation of the CMU project by the European Commission
• Kick-off Interventions moderated by Alberto Onetti, Coordinator, Startup Europe Partnership
  • Robert Wardrop, Executive Director, Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, University of Cambridge
  • Patric Gresko, Head of Unit, Venture Capital, European Investment Fund (EIF)
  • Erika Blanckaert, Senior Public Affairs Manager, European Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (EVCA)
• Parallel Working Groups led by coordinators:
  • Working Group A: How to increase scale of venture capital markets and develop these markets EU-wide
  • Working Group B: How to develop private sources of VC funding to better complement existing sources of public funding
• Networking Lunch
• Parallel Working Groups led by coordinators:
  • Working Group C: How to increase the take-up of EU Venture Capital Funds created by the EUVECA Regulation
  • Working Group D: How to develop exit opportunities for VC investors and create a better investment eco-system (including crowdfunding or P2P lending) for startups to boost the supply of VC funds to start-ups
• Wrap-up moderated by Alberto Onetti, Coordinator, Startup Europe Partnership
  • Reports by Working Groups’ Rapporteurs
  • Discussion re: Working Groups’ insights
  • Preliminary Conclusions and identified next steps