Green light for high-tech venture capital fund

The EU Competition Commissioner, Mario Monti, has been persuaded to drop a planned probe into a UK government-sponsored venture capital fund for investment in high-technology business. The British government and other Commission members persuaded Mr Monti that a probe would have given the wrong signals to small start-up companies that the EU is trying to encourage. Mr Monti has now set up a working group to look at how the Commission should assess venture capital funding. This is part of a plan to come up with a broader EU strategy on risk capital for small companies.