Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-09-12-Speech-3-509-000"
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"en.20120912.27.3-509-000"2
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"−
Mr President, friends of culture, good taste and venture capital, good evening. How good it feels to be among friends in the Chamber in Strasbourg – such an intimate place – this, still summer, evening. Thank you to the many members of the public for being here, and for coming to applaud the performance of the two rapporteurs.
Joking aside, the issue of venture capital is important because it is a fact that, in the EU today, we need investment. Our economy has been hijacked too often these last 30 years, both publicly and privately, by, essentially, consumption and speculation at the expense of value-added investment.
It is in this context that venture capital plays an important role, especially in driving innovation. It must be recognised that, in the EU, we have a process of innovation that is, without doubt, excessively regulated. What we have, therefore, is top-down innovation, where the objectives set by the Commission or by the Member States, for example, stimulate innovation. This can be distinguished from the American model of bottom-up innovation, where people risk both their money and their reputation on innovations, not all of which succeed – far from it. However, this is a model we would do well to draw on, not to simply adopt it but to achieve a better balance between top-down innovation, which is guided by regulation, bottom-up innovation, which is guided by investment, and innovation I would characterise as autonomous, which is guided by the market and stakeholders on the ground.
It is not easy to encourage venture capital because, first of all, it is, of course, a question of culture. If, in Europe, we have a culture that is just a tad allergic to risk, it is clear that this will not change overnight. Nevertheless, it is good to do whatever we can to remove regulatory obstacles or, rather, to establish mechanisms that encourage venture capital. In this context, the Commission proposal to create a European venture capital funds passport, which is to some extent a guarantee of quality and also a guarantee of access to the entire internal market, is a good idea.
From that point of view, the issue should have been simple, and it was. The negotiations were quite speedy. In the end, there were not many points of divergence between us. One of the issues was whether or not it was necessary to have a system of depositaries with a view to protecting the consumer. We, rapporteurs and shadow rapporteurs, decided together that venture capital is perhaps an area where, in fact, we want to encourage risk, with investors who know a bit about the risks they are taking, and that, when addressing professionals, concern for consumer protection can become a sideshow to considerations of efficiency. We therefore abandoned the system of depositaries to finalise an agreement in short order on 28 June which was welcomed by the three partners: Parliament, the Council and the Commission. Furthermore, I would like to thank the Commission for helping us to reach an agreement in relatively short order.
Then, I was surprised to discover, five or seven days later, I do not remember – I am sure Ms Auconie will remind me – almost via a rumour, that the Council had reneged on its agreement. At this point I would like to say that, in terms of procedure, it is unacceptable. It is possible to realise that one has gone too far in negotiations, that too many concessions have been made and so on, but an agreement is an agreement. When an agreement has been reached, when it has been announced and welcomed, well then, it is honoured. That is what we are going to do tomorrow, when we vote on this text. I therefore call on Parliament not to try to outsmart the Council, that is to say to reverse its original positions and to act as if it were going to recommence negotiations. No, we are faithful to the procedure we have gone through and the agreement we have reached, and it is in these terms, in these exclusive terms, that we will proceed to the vote tomorrow. I therefore encourage you to support us in this and I hope that I will hear a lot of encouragement in this respect from the many members of the public who are present."@en1
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