Commission to take action on Sovereign Wealth Funds

The EU is seeking a common approach to tackle concerns over Sovereign Wealth Funds in Europe. The rise of these state-owned funds has caused disquiet in some member states, such as France and Germany, which have already put rules in place.

“There are good reasons for an EU common approach,” Commission President José Manuel Barroso said in a statement following an internal debate at the Commission on 5 December. However, the Commission is seeking to avoid legislative action and envisages soft measures, such as “ground rules or guidelines”, accompanied by efforts to increase transparency on Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs).

According to a recent Morgan Stanley study, SWFs today represent $2,300 billion (roughly €1,570 billion) in assets and could reach a total of $12,000 billion (around €8,200) by 2015. These funds are mainly held by oil exporting countries, such as Norway, Alaska, Russia, Dubai and Qatar, which have seen a large growth in trade surpluses as a result of rising energy prices.

The recent growth of these special state-owned investment funds have caused disquiet among many governments, which fear political influence by other states on strategic sectors, such as energy and defence. The UK, France and Germany have already introduced legislation allowing them to fend off investments from Sovereign Wealth Funds.

However, Liberal MEP Wolf Klinz warned: “Only the sectors of defence, security and possibly energy should be protected by the state – any other sector should be open to investment by SWFs. But we have to stand on the principle of reciprocity.”

The Commission underlined that it seeks to “avoid all forms of protectionism”. This was reaffirmed by Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy, speaking at a meeting of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group (ALDE) on 4 December.

“My approach is based on openness to investment, avoiding protectionism and engaging with Sovereign Wealth funds to encourage transparency,” McCreevy said. 

Issues to be considered in the future, according to the internal market commissioner, are EU-level guidelines on investments in sensitive sectors, as well as increased transparency on the basis of an international code of best practice. He citied the Irish National Reserve fund, which publishes its investment strategy in an annual report, as a good example.

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