Highlights 2025
Public Affairs
Invest Europe is the key interlocutor of European policymakers on private equity and venture capital. We are a constructive partner to EU and international institutions, helping policymakers to understand the positive contribution that our industry makes to Europe’s economy, and how policy affects its ability to make that contribution.
Invest Europe provides members with a comprehensive ecosystem, combining a permanent presence in the political and policy framework, with access to key stakeholders, practical knowledge and implementation support.
Key numbers
40+
policy topics followed
35+
meetings with high-level European Commission officials, MEPs, national regulators and supervisors
40+
consultation responses, position papers and policy publications
4
thought leadership pieces and industry-focused briefings
8
policy events organised in Brussels and virtually
1
comprehensive regulatory guide, AIFMD Essentials
3
policy-dedicated webinars attracting 500+ members
2
Committees
9
Working Groups
11
Task Forces
shaping industry positions on issues affecting the PE/VC ecosystem as well as vertical topics, such as defence and biotech
Highlights 2025
Public Affairs
- Prevented the imposition of complex rules on leverage and liquidity at national and EU level in the context of the AIFMD II implementation
- Led the European Commission to introduce significant improvements to the fund management frameworks (Market Integration, EuVECA review), improving the ability of managers to operate across the EU
- Successfully introduced amendments to the categorisation of investors in the Retail Investment Strategy proposal, making it easier for private equity funds to be marketed to HNWIs, while softening expected requirements on undue costs and value for money
- Obtained changes to Solvency II (insurers) and CRR (banks) prudential frameworks, designed to make it easier for these institutional investors to commit capital to the asset class
- Forced the removal of rules preventing occupational pension funds from investing in private equity, venture capital and infrastructure, making investments more compatible with prudent person principle
- Fought successfully against the introduction of new rules on valuation of private assets by credit institutions
- Made progress toward a categorisation of portfolio companies (“start-ups, “scale-ups”, “innovative companies” and “SMEs”)
- Successfully launched Invest Europe’s Infrastructure Conference, convening 100+ policymakers, global investors and industry experts to align private capital deployment with EU digital/energy transition goals
- Actively shaped EU institutions’ preparatory work on the SFDR review, ensuring industry views are reflected, leading to a proposed reduction in disclosure requirements and greater clarity on product categories
- Engaged with EU policymakers to secure more certainty, practicality and simplification on the ongoing implementation of EU sustainability rules, in particular CSRD and CSDDD (as part of the Sustainability Omnibus), as well as the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS)
- Secured significant changes to the Q&As of the European Long Term Investment Fund (ELTIF) framework, making the retail passport usable by any semi-liquid product
- Advocated, in the context of the EU budget review, for the public funding needs of the venture capital community in a difficult fundraising environment
- Secured a more harmonised, structured, digitally enabled FDI screening process and greater accountability in multi-jurisdictional cases
- Secured Commission recognition in the FSR Guidelines that GP fiduciary duties to LPs act as credible safeguards against cross-subsidisation between funds, strengthening case for investment fund exemption and targeted disclosures to LPs, while paving the way for legislative review
- Supported EU policymakers in the first Regulation that treats biotechnology as a strategic industrial ecosystem across its full lifecycle (the Biotech Act), ensuring the inclusion of investor logic in the policy design
- Signed a partnership with the European Startup Nations Alliance (ESNA), connecting private capital providers and the startup ecosystem
- Hosted successful policy events on topics including European competition and competitiveness goals, including a High-Level Infrastructure Investment Conference which gathered 150+ participants
- Successfully launched the European Parliamentary Intergroup on Attracting Investment, leading its Secretariat, which consists of 50+ MEPs and 40+ private partners, and coordinating three flagship events
- Became a key player of the EFRAG community for Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standards for Non-Listed SMEs (VSME), providing ad hoc input on initiatives, tools, platforms, and best practices
- Secured a seat at the design stage of the EU’s future climate architecture through participation in the European Commission’s Reflection Group on Mobilising Climate Resilience Financing, contributing to the final report and providing a direct feed-in to EU frameworks in 2026
More information can be found here