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L’Union européenne (UE) n’aura pas le droit qu’à un seul « choc de simplification » en faveur des entreprises, mais à trois. C’est l’un des principaux enseignements du programme de travail de la Commission européenne pour 2025, qui doit être publié mardi prochain, et dont L’Agefi a pu consulter une version provisoire.

On savait déjà que l’exécutif européen présenterait fin février (ou début mars) une législation dite « omnibus » devant amender plusieurs directives et règlements européens afin d’alléger drastiquement les normes bureaucratiques pesant sur les entreprises. Deux textes piliers de la finance verte - la taxonomie et la directive sur « le reporting de durabilité́ » des entreprises, la fameuse CSRD - sont d’ailleurs concernés.

Mais le nouveau document nous apprend donc que deux lois « omnibus » supplémentaires sont désormais dans les tuyaux, et devraient être proposées dès le deuxième trimestre. L’une visera à couper les formalités administratives spécifiquement en faveur des « petites et moyennes capitalisations», pour lequelles une nouvelle catégorie comptable européenne devrait être créée. L’autre aura pour but de « simplifier l’investissement », indique le document, sans que l’on ne sache encore de quoi il s’agit. Sollicitée, la Commission ne donne aucune précision.

Clarification attendue de l’Union des marchés de capitaux

En tout état de cause, Bruxelles a des projets en matière de services financiers : elle présentera au deuxième trimestre une « communication sur une Union de l’épargne et de l’Investissement », le nouveau nom de « l’Union des marchés de capitaux », ce grand projet amorcé par l’UE en 2015, mais qui peine à progresser. Cette communication aura à clarifier la méthode de l’exécutif européen, dont l’objectif est d’orienter les centaines de milliards d’euros d’épargne des ménages Européens vers les « priorités stratégiques » de l’UE : la compétitivité, l’industrie verte et la défense.

Plusieurs réformes estampillées « Union des marchés de capitaux » sont d’ailleurs déjà en cours de négociations entre les co-législateurs de l’UE, à commencer par la Stratégie sur l’Investissement de détail («Retail Investment Strategy », ou RIS), qui cherche à encourager les particuliers à se tourner vers les marchés financiers.

Au rang des nouveaux textes, l’institution prévoit a minima de proposer au deuxième trimestre une révision du cadre légal en matière de titrisation. Comme réclamé par Paris et Berlin, l’idée devrait être de stimuler la titrisation via des simplifications réglementaires.

Enormément de choses peuvent être faites pour établir une concurrence équitable en faveur des banques européennes sans une nouvelle proposition de la Commission mais en passant plutôt par le niveau techniquePierre Degonde, consultant en affaires publiques franco-européennes chez Euralia.

Les accords de Bâle restent d’actualité

En revanche, Bruxelles, n’a, à première vue, pas l’intention de céder à une autre des demandes du couple franco-allemand, celle d’alléger la transposition en Europe des accords de Bâle 3 sur les exigences en fonds propres des banques.

Il en irait pourtant de la compétitivité des banques du Vieux continent, alors les Etats-Unis ont reporté leur propre transposition. Mais nulle trace de pareille initiative dans le programme de travail de 2025. Néanmoins, « énormément de choses peuvent être faites pour établir une concurrence équitable en faveur des banques européennes sans une nouvelle proposition de la Commission mais en passant plutôt par le niveau technique : l’Autorité bancaire européenne doit encore concevoir des dizaines de normes techniques et a ainsi énormément de marge de manoeuvre en la matière », explique Pierre Degonde, consultant en affaires publiques franco-européennes chez Euralia.

Et d’ailleurs, le programme de travail de la Commission reste indicatif : « si une dérégulation bancaire massive venait à être annoncée aux Etats-Unis, la Commission pourrait très bien faire une nouvelle proposition de réforme », précise cet expert.

Revue de la directive sur la gestion d’actifs durables

Parmi les initiatives attendues, le document confirme qu’une révision de la SFDR (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation) sera initiée au troisième trimestre. Il y a de quoi faire : ce règlement entré en vigueur en mars 2021 afin d’orienter les flux financiers vers des activités durables a récolté une pluie de critiques.

Au deuxième trimestre, la Commission présentera aussi une stratégie pour les start-up et scale-up de l’UE. Enfin, dans les toutes prochaines semaines, elle dévoilera un « livre blanc » sur le « futur de la défense européenne ». Il sera, entre autres, question du financement de l’industrie d’armement. A ce stade, les Vingt-Sept ne s’entendent pas pour emprunter en commun afin d’augmenter l’investissement public. Il est certes question de mobilier la Banque publique d’investissement (BEI) mais voilà des mois que cette idée reste lettre morte.

Despite all the buzz last week that DeepSeek would herald in an era of lower AI budgets, there is zero sign that Big Tech is slowing down. Instead, they’re ramping things up.

Amazon is the latest tech giant to announce a massive AI spending plan, with well over $100 billion in predicted capital expenditures for 2025. The “vast majority” of that $100 billion will go toward AI capabilities for its cloud division AWS, CEO Andy Jassy said during Amazon’s fourth-quarter earnings call Thursday.

(More specifically, Jassy said Q4 2024’s capex spending of $26.3 billion “is reasonably representative” of what to expect on an annualized basis in 2025. Multiplying that quarterly spend by four gets a cool $105.2 billion.)

That’s a huge jump from the $78 billion in capex that Amazon spent in 2024.

Amazon brushed aside concerns about AI getting so cheap that it would harm its revenue. Instead, Jassy said lower prices would just lead to increased demand for AI. And AWS, which has AI offerings galore, stands to benefit, he argued.

“Sometimes people make the assumption that if you’re able to decrease the cost of any type of technology component … that somehow it leads to less total spend in technology. We’ve never seen that to be the case,” Jassy said, comparing the boom in AI demand to the early days of the internet and cloud.

Other Big Tech companies are making the same point this earnings season as worries mount about the returns on their skyrocketing AI expenses.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg declared last week the company would spend “hundreds of billions” on AI in the long term, citing rising inference demand across its billions of users. Meta is slated to spend at least $60 billion on capex in 2025, mostly on AI.

Meanwhile, Alphabet just boosted its capex for 2025 by a whopping 42% to $75 billion, with CEO Sundar Pichai justifying the spending by saying that decreased AI costs “will make more use cases feasible.”

And Microsoft announced last month that it would spend $80 billion on AI data centers in 2025 alone.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella even tweeted the Wikipedia page for Jevons Paradox (the concept in economics that lower prices leads to increased demand) right as the DeepSeek discussion was heating up.

Whether Jevons Paradox pans out for Big Tech this time remains to be seen. But for now, there’s no signs of any AI spending slowdown just yet.

The cofounder of cult shoe brand Nodaleto will serve brands across the fashion, design, art and hospitality

PARIS – With a hand in designing everything from shoes to restaurants, French creative director Olivier Leone likes to keep a finger in many pies — though he typically works behind the scenes.

With the launch of his own creative agency, Pragma, he’s ready to take on a more visible role in shaping the creative direction, visual strategy, product design and communications of brands across the fashion, design, art and hospitality sectors.

The 33-year-old, who cofounded the cult shoe brand Nodaleto with Julia Toledano in 2019, has been diversifying his ventures since taking a step back from the business in late 2023, though he remains involved as an adviser.

There are the Japanese restaurants, Onii-san and Ojii, he cofounded with entrepreneur Arthur Cohen, as well as the Hotel Hana in the French capital, on which he worked with interior designer Laura Gonzalez.

A New York City outpost for Ojii is currently in the pipeline, and Leone is helping to define the visual identity of the new Silencio nightclub under development there with legendary hotelier Ian Schrager. He’s also a creative consultant for Sceners Gallery in Paris, which offers an eclectic selection of 20th century design.

Leone sees himself as a curator, freely mixing epochs and inspirations.

“I draw heavily on the past to build the future,” he told WWD in an interview. “There’s no signature style, it’s more a way of thinking. Each project has its own language.”

He likes to describe Pragma as a practice, reflecting its multidisciplinary approach and his own dual background, with degrees in both business and art. His website features a photograph of a man in a suit, spinning inside a German wheel, while the agency’s logo bears a loose resemblance to Prada’s signature Engry font.

“My identity took time to emerge and Pragma is really the definition of that, down to the meaning of the word. According to the Ancient Greeks, pragma is the type of love that takes root gradually and lasts the longest,” he said. “It’s a place where discipline meets intuition, and where reason and aesthetics coexist.”

As an independent, he’s worked with brands including Louis Vuitton, Givenchy and Christofle. With a core team of five people, Pragma will rely on a host of external collaborators in Paris and New York, where it plans to officially open an office in June.

“I put together dedicated teams that manage projects almost independently,” Leone explained. “Eventually, I would love for Pragma to become a label, where we would operate as an umbrella for other creative studios with different identities.”

In the meantime, he plans to launch a multiplatform magazine next year, in addition to producing short films.

“I want it to be a creative platform to support designers,” Leone said. “The goal of this practice is to bring everything together under one roof. Beyond clothing, fashion is ultimately a way of seeing things and capturing the spirit of the times.”

The French beauty giant becomes a minority investor in the 15-year-old brand known for its Chiquito handbags.

PARIS – L’Oréal has made a minority investment in Jacquemus to fund the French fashion house’s ongoing retail growth and expansion into beauty, the two companies said on Friday.

“Jacquemus is delighted to announce a long-term, exclusive beauty partnership with L’Oréal Group, further solidified by a minority investment supporting their independent development,” Jacquemus said in a statement.

The 15-year-old brand confirmed in October that it was looking for additional funds for its next phase of store openings in 2025 and 2026, and to help it explore the new category.

“We are thrilled to welcome Jacquemus and unleash together its outstanding luxury beauty potential. With its singular brand positioning, fueled by sensational creativity and social first playfulness, Jacquemus will perfectly complement L’Oréal Luxe’s portfolio of iconic brands and reinforce our worldwide leadership,” said Cyril Chapuy, president of L’Oréal Luxe.

“Fifteen years ago, I began dreaming of and creating Jacquemus, with perfume and beauty always part of my vision for the brand. Today, I am proud to continue shaping this dream with the leading beauty group, L’Oréal. I’m excited to see what the future holds for us,” said Simon Porte Jacquemus, president, founder and creative director of Jacquemus.

Known for staging cinematic runway displays in spectacular locations including a lavender field, a salt mine and the Palace of Versailles, the brand posted revenues of 270 million euros in 2023.

Jacquemus has been doing double duty as creative director and chief executive officer since the departure in December 2023 of Bastien Daguzan. According to market sources, Celine North America president Sarah Benady is poised to fill the role, WWD reported on Jan. 28.

Daguzan said in 2022 that Jacquemus had a medium-target of 500 million euros in revenues by 2025, thanks to soaring sales of Chiquito handbags and Artichaut bucket hats, but that target now appears unrealistic.

While the label has not shared revenue projections for 2024, it is expected to take a hit as aspirational consumers tighten their pursestrings.

Sports-car maker overhauls product portfolio after worldwide sales drop and disappointing reaction to electric models

German sports-car maker Porsche plans to overhaul its product portfolio to include more combustion engine and plug-in hybrid vehicles, putting additional strain on its already squeezed profit margins.

The Stuttgart-based carmaker said on Thursday night that the current year’s margins were expected to be between 10 and 12 per cent, well below its long-term target of 20 per cent. Further vehicle development and “battery activities” would add another €800 million in costs, it said.

The decision to increase spending on future combustion engine models came as worldwide deliveries to customers last year dropped by 3 per cent against the previous year. The declines were driven by a 28 per cent slump in China, where consumers were not convinced by its electric Taycan.

Last weekend, the company announced it was in talks about prematurely ending the contracts of chief financial officer Lutz Meschke and Detlev von Platen, Porsche’s head of sales and marketing.

The move is partly a result of concerns over Porsche’s focus on electric cars and sliding sales, according to people familiar with the discussions. However, it is also an effort to resolve a power struggle between Meschke and chief executive Oliver Blume, who also leads parent company Volkswagen.

In a separate statement on Thursday night, Porsche SE — the investment vehicle of VW’s majority owner, the Porsche-Piëch family — said a previously announced writedown of its stake in Porsche would be more than twice as large as expected, reaching a range of €2.5bn-€3.5bn.

The family, led by Wolfgang Porsche, who chairs the supervisory boards of Porsche AG and Porsche SE, has grown increasingly concerned about the simmering crisis at VW and the sports-car maker that bears its name. The family depends on dividends from the two companies.

As of December, the investment vehicle had a net debt position of €5.2bn partially built up as it acquired a stake of 25 per cent plus one share in the carmaker’s voting stock when it listed in 2022.