Publications
& Policy

From a private capital perspective, Europe’s proposed 28th regime has the potential to reduce legal fragmentation, enhance investability, and better support capital flows across the full growth journey of European companies. A practical, pan-European corporate framework could mobilize Europe’s private capital ecosystem, if it keeps into account the financing needs of the businesses targeted by the regime.

The training course programme contains a list of all on-boarding, foundation and specialised courses offered in 2026.

The Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD or Directive 2011/61/EU) creates a comprehensive regulatory and supervisory framework for the management and marketing of private equity, venture capital and other alternative investment funds (AIFs) in the European Economic Area. The harmonised European standards for alternative investment fund managers (AIFMs) aim to enhance the transparency of the activities of AIFMs and the funds they manage towards investors and public authorities.

The ELTIF Regulation came into force in 2015 and created a new European product framework for both professional and retail investors looking to invest in long-term assets. To qualify as an ELTIF, a fund must first be an Alternative Investment Fund and then meet certain other conditions. Eligible investments include debt and equity instruments in all unlisted companies, as well as real assets such as infrastructure. 

The Solvency II Directive is the legislation setting out prudential rules for the European insurance industry. It provides a risk measurement framework for defining capital requirements for insurance companies when they invest into private equity and venture capital funds.

The Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision Directive (IORP II) establishes an EU regulatory framework for the pensions sector. Contrary to Solvency II for insurers and CRD/CRR for banks, the current Directive follows a non-risk based approach to the regulatory requirements for pension funds. However, it clarifies that investments in all alternative asset classes may not exceed 30% of the total assets of the IORP.

The KID-PRIIPS (Key Information Document for Packaged Retail Investment and Insurance-based Products) Regulation requires fund managers who sell investment products to retail investors to produce a three-page document detailing the risk profile, as well as the expected performance of the product, and to disclose costs these investors would face when investing. For this purpose, retail investors are all investors that are not deemed professional under revised MiFID/MiFIR rules, which came into force in 2018.

Nearly all of the proposed amendments of the Market Integration package on asset management will help usually small private equity, venture capital and infrastructure managers to operate more efficiently across the Union – and will therefore unlock capital for the companies they support

Invest Europe, as also part of a coalition of trade associations representing businesses and advisers from the EU and its key trading partners, is committed to creating a level playing field and boosting Europe’s competitiveness, attractiveness and growth. This is why we call upon the European Commission and co-legislators to pursue an ambitious legislative review of the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) to hone its scope and tailor its application to create a proportionate balance between targeting distortive foreign subsidies and promoting European competitiveness.

Analysis of data for the six years from 2019-2024, which covers the impact of COVID on markets, as well as volatility caused by inflation and rising interest rates, shows that listed private equity exits are generating significant uplifts over last reported asset valuations.

In this paper Invest Europe argued against an interpretation of AIFMD leverage rules that would capture portfolio company debt as leverage of the fund.

Invest Europe member firm Revaia has released the second edition of its European ESG Data Benchmark. Using 2024 data from European tech and growth companies, the report compares results with 2023 to assess progress and resilience in the face of growing ESG scrutiny.

During this webinar we unpacked the key elements of the review and discussed what they could mean in practice for PE/VC fund managers and investors.

The report, by ADC Consulting and Dansk Bio, highlights the EU's lagging biotech sector compared to the US, driven by major funding gaps (especially pension fund investment), regulatory hurdles, and weak commercialization ecosystems. It calls for urgent action, including harmonized regulations, a unified stock exchange, and fostering better translation from research to market, to unlock Europe's potential and prevent further talent drain to the US.